Cape Town – More than 128 000 pupils were affected by the taxi strike in the province this week, the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) said.
Taxi operators led by the SA National Taxi Association (Santaco) had embarked on a two-day protest this week, which ended on Tuesday.
Thousands of commuters were left stranded, with 128 699 pupils in Grades 1 to 11 missing school on on Monday and 128 747 reporting absent on Tuesday, the WCED said.
There were no reports of matric candidates missing their exams on both days.
The WCED said there was also a high level of absenteeism among teachers, with 4 400 unable to report for work.
Education MEC, David Maynier, said many schools had to reschedule exams, disrupting the end-of-year revision, marking, and administrative processes at schools.
“While the Santaco taxi strike had a severe impact on the other grades, we have received no reports of a candidate missing a matric exam.
“On Monday, 354 life sciences candidates were affected by the strike, of which 297 wrote at alternate exam centres, and 57 arrived late at their designated centre but were nonetheless afforded the full time allocation for their exam.
“On Tuesday, 415 Geography candidates were affected by the strike, with 358 writing at an alternate exam centre, and 57 arrived late to their designated centre, and were also afforded the full time allocation for their exam,” said Maynier.
“I want to especially thank our principals and teachers for the way in which they took charge in developing and executing contingency plans for their learners to reach their exams, with great success.”
Cape Times