The Western Cape Education Department has confirmed that a number of schools have been left damaged as severe weather conditions persist in parts of the province.

On Tuesday, the department advised that schools in certain areas of the Eden and Central Karoo Education District will be closed on Wednesday and Thursday in the interests of learner and teacher safety.

According to the department, this decision was made after extensive consultation with the Provincial Disaster Management Centre and the South African Weather Service (SAWS). As a result, schools in certain areas of the Eden and Central Karoo Education District were closed.

The affected schools have received official notice of the closure from the Head of Department and have been requested to communicate the closures to parents. All other schools in the Western Cape will be open unless approval has been granted for closure.

Around 89,000 learners were at home on Tuesday as 125 schools in the chosen districts were closed.

“Our default position is always to keep schools open and only close schools in exceptional circumstances, but we made the decision based on the severity of the warnings in place,” added WCED Minister David Maynier

Maynier says the department will continuously monitor and evaluate the situation to ensure that schools can reopen as soon as possible.

While all schools are expected to open on Friday, Maynier says the department will, however, evaluate the weather prediction for the end of the week to determine whether any individual school closures are necessary.

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