Motshekga briefed the media in Pretoria on Thursday.

Schools were forced to close their doors last week after President Cyril Ramaphosa declared the coronavirus outbreak a national disaster.

Motshekga says the looming 21-day lockdown makes it difficult to predict when schools will reopen.

"We speculated that if the lockdown finishes on the 16th it’s the likelihood for teaching, but this will be determined by the curve because that is what put us in lockdown. So if the curve flattens and the health department says it would be wise to move out then we would indeed.

“But the lockdown has not started. We will monitor the situation and communicate with the public on whether it's safe to send learners back to school."

She gave an assurance that the department is busy with a plan to recover lost time.

In the meantime, parents are urged to access school material on different platforms.

"We are working closely with key partners to coordinate and make available content tailored to support our learners. We make the following resources available: Broadcast lessons working with SABC TV and radio, we have programmes with DSTV channel 180, eTV has dedicated a channel for 3 months on OpenView and we are also broadcasting lessons on community radio stations across the country," said Motshekga.

Learning material is also available on the department’s website at no charge to parents.

Jacaranda FM