3 February 2021, 8:40 am EST By
South Africa has recently launched its very own COVID-19 Electronic Vaccine Data Systems, a self-registration portal and immediately, 34,000 healthcare workers have hurried to sign up.
(Photo : Luke Walker / Stringer)
South Africa Launches Self-Registration Portal
In a report by News24, South African Minister of Health Zweli Mkhize said that the self-registration portal is to help the department guarantee that the vaccines would be delivered at the right time at the right site.
Minister Mkhize has also done a live demonstration of the portal this Wednesday morning, February 3, 2021.
Based on the report, it seems like the portal is open for healthcare workers only at the moment, which is part the country s phase one of the entire COVID-19 vaccination program, which is also common in various parts of the world to ensure the protection of medical frontliners who are battling face to face with the unseen enemy.
Education inequality deepens in name of Covid-19 response
By Opinion
Dear President Ramaphosa, Minister Motshekga, Minister Mboweni, Minister Mkhize, and Minister Dlamini Zulu.
We fear that the government is not doing all that it can to prevent the inequality in our education system from widening in the face of Covid-19. This is because public schools remain closed until February 15, while the Department of Basic Education (DBE) is not bothered with private schools reopening their gates or teaching remotely right now.
The difference between the support learners in public schools and those in private schools have received during the pandemic, highlights a bigger problem that has been developing over years: the massive education inequality in our country. Education should be a right, but in our country it’s a privilege.
Latest News OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT, MINISTER OF BASIC EDUCATION, MINISTER OF FINANCE, MINISTER OF HEALTH, AND MINISTER OF COOPERATIVE GOVERNANCE – FIX AND FUND PUBLIC SCHOOLS, CLOSE THE WIDENING EQUALITY GAP! EDUCATION IS A RIGHT, NOT A PRIVILEGE! February 1, 2021
“I feel as learners are not being prioritised here especially in government schools. We are told to shut down but no one realises the pressure that’s being put on us. School last year was very horrible and stressful. This is because private schools were operating and we couldn’t really. It didn’t sit well with me.”
– Roy Johane, Grade 12 Equaliser (learner member of Equal Education), Gauteng
Public schools are supposed to open on 15 February.
Equal Education has written an open letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa, the Minister of Education, Minister of Finance, Minister of Health, and Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs asking that something be done to prevent the equality gap widening.
Dear President Ramaphosa, Minister Motshekga, Minister Mboweni, Minister Mkhize, and Minister Dlamini-Zulu
We fear that government is not doing all that it can to prevent the inequality in our education system from widening in the face of Covid-19, as public schools remain closed until 15 February while the Department of Basic Education (DBE) is unbothered with private schools reopening their gates or teaching remotely right now.
Battling the second wave of Covid-19, South Africa is expected to receive a million doses of Covishield by the end of January and another 5 lakh in February of this year.