Education
(1) (a) How many teachers have lost their lives since the start of the second wave of COVID-19 infections to date, (b) what is her Department’s contingency plan in this regard seeing that teaching assistants have already been allocated to various schools across the province;
(2) with the information available to her Department, what are the particulars of the strategic approach to roll-out vaccines among teachers at public schools?
- (a) As at 1 February 2021, 68 educators have lost their lives due to Covid-19 since November 2020.
(b) When a teacher (or any other WCED staff member) passes away, the standard recruitment process to fill the post applies. Another staff member may be appointed to act in the position until such time as the post is filled.
Teacher assistants are specifically appointed to assist with classroom duties (especially for those teachers working remotely due to comorbidities) – they are not substitute teachers and cannot act in a teaching post role.
The WCED will take direction from the provincial Department of Health. No details are available at present.
