KZN emergency guidelines for schools aim to safeguard students against climate threats

Daily Maverick

29-04-2025

With severe flooding and tornadoes hitting KwaZulu-Natal, the provincial education department has introduced new disaster management protocols.
As climate-related disasters become more frequent and destructive in KwaZulu-Natal, the provincial education department has issued new emergency guidelines for schools to follow during periods of extreme rainfall, flooding, or storms via a circular.
The circular instructs school principals, circuit managers, and departmental officials on how to respond to severe weather events — a necessary move given the persistent rains affecting the province and the vulnerability of schools in low-lying or rural areas.
While the department reports no major damage to schools as yet, officials warn that worsening weather could affect learning, safety, and service delivery — including food deliveries as part of the School Nutrition Programme.
The guidelines instruct principals to maintain communication with parents, assess daily conditions, and make judgement calls on whether to keep children at home or safely release them once at school.
They are also expected to report infrastructure damage immediately, manage catch-up curriculum plans, and ensure learners remain occupied even when learning from home.
'This is about protecting lives,' the circular states. 'We cannot afford to lose any learners, teachers or officials due to flooding or destruction of school infrastructure.'
While the department's new guidelines mark an important step toward formalising emergency responses, implementation remains patchy and largely dependent on the discretion of overstretched school leaders.
Budget constraints undermine resilience
According to the South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu), most provincial education departments — including the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education — continue to overlook the most pressing issues in their budget allocations. Critical needs such as infrastructure development, school safety, and adequate staffing remain largely unaddressed.
Sadtu spokesperson Nomsa Cembi said that vacant teaching posts, understaffed support services, and ongoing infrastructure problems were steadily undermining the quality of education in the province.
In many cases, government funding had been so constrained that private organisations had stepped in to rebuild schools following disasters. During a recent visit to an affected school, education manager Simon Siyabonga Lushozi openly admitted to the department's financial struggles.
More than 900 children were left without classes at Seatides Combined School, the hardest-hit institution when a tornado tore through uThongathi (Tongaat) and surrounding areas in June 2024. The school suffered millions of rand in damage, and due to the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education's financial constraints, private donors and sponsors — led by humanitarian organisation Gift of the Givers — stepped in to help rebuild it.
Through their collective efforts, Seatides Combined School is slowly being pieced back together following the devastation.
'I think the budget issues were the main factor that led to the delay in implementation, and we couldn't wait for the department,' said Kola Govender, the former principal of the school.
'We appealed to the private sector to come forward, which they did — and to me, that was a big plus. Otherwise, 10 months down the line, we wouldn't have at least a major part of the school ready for reoccupation.'
He added that three blocks at the school were still awaiting reconstruction. Of these, work had begun on only one, the science block, which included the science and biology labs. In addition to the structural repairs, there were unresolved water infrastructure issues, including the sewer system and the main water supply line.
New guidelines empower principals
Govender said the department's new disaster management guidelines were a step in the right direction.
'Tornadoes are virtually unheard of in this region, so we had little to no frame of reference for what warning signs to watch for. While the new departmental circular on disaster management provides some guidance, which is a relief, it's still a challenge. Previously, we had no formal authority or directive to close schools pre-emptively — doing so required layers of consultation and red tape,' he said.
'Now, with this circular in place, principals have more flexibility to act on the side of caution rather than delay and risk serious consequences. So definitely a step in the right direction. It's a positive move by the department.'
When asked whether the school would have been prepared had the tornado struck during teaching hours, Govender acknowledged that they probably would not have been. He explained that while the school follows departmental guidelines and conducts emergency drills for various scenarios, including bomb threats and natural disasters, the speed and intensity of the tornado would have left school management unable to guide pupils or implement any meaningful protective measures.
Weathering the storm
Govender added that while principals were expected to follow departmental guidelines, it was equally important for both parents and the department to understand the broader context in which these decisions were made. He stressed that principals should be encouraged to err on the side of caution when severe weather warnings were issued, and emphasised the need for understanding from all stakeholders if, in hindsight, no disaster occured after a precautionary school closure.
'Yes, there will be loss of time. There will be loss of teaching time, but understand the time that you lose vis-à-vis the lives that you save, and the destruction that may have taken place,' he said.
There was no formal directive that strictly outlined a specific catch-up programme, and the responsibility for addressing disruptions to teaching and learning was left to the discretion of the school's leadership. These could include extra periods, using holiday time, or other strategies, depending on how many hours or days were lost.
Govender warned that punishing school leaders for acting early could have serious consequences.
'If action is taken against principals for closing schools prematurely, it will create fear and uncertainty. It will discourage others from making timely decisions in future emergencies, even when warnings are clear,' he said.
When asked what he wished the education department would urgently address regarding disaster preparedness in schools, Govender highlighted the need for every school to have a contingency plan.
'Given climate change, this kind of disaster could happen anywhere, and schools need to be able to quickly relocate. Governing school bodies must work together with the principal and management during these crisis situations,' said Govender.
He stressed the importance of the department being ready to provide support in the form of temporary infrastructure, similar to what was done for Seatides Combined School.
'In as much as we've had our issues with the department not undertaking reconstruction, we have to give them credit for the speed at which they provided support. This disaster affected an entire school of almost 900 learners, but within three weeks the department delivered prefab classrooms, toilets, and fenced off the site for safety,' he said.
Govender acknowledged that without this rapid response, the entire 2024 academic year might have been lost.
'Fortunately, when it really mattered, the department did what was needed, we were able to continue with teaching and learning and did not compromise the academic year,' he said. DM