Gauteng province has welcomed about 2.3m pupils to class on the first day of school.
This was announced by education MEC Panyaza Lesufi during his official opening of Abram Hlophe Primary School in Katlehong, Ekurhuleni, on Monday.
Lesufi said he was however worried about the 3,000 pupils who did not write their exams last year.
"We urge the parents to allow these learners to come back to school We have also released our teams to go and look for them. We can't allow a child to drop out because of Covid-19 as they will be faced with two options; either going to prison or being beneficiaries of a social grant," he said.
Lesufi said even though it was all systems go for the first day of school it was unfortunate that some teachers could not return to the classroom as they had succumbed to Covid-19 related illnesses.
Lesufi said 121,000 grade 1 pupils were starting their education.
Premier David Makhura, who was also in Katlehong, thanked all the teachers and saluted those who had died.
"It has not been easy for our learners and teachers. Both our children and parents have been very anxious since the virus started. There were people who wanted us to declare 2020 a loss of [an] academic year but we insisted that children will be much safer at schools.
"We lost 42 [school] days during level 5 and 4 lockdown but we insisted everything needed to be done to make sure we don't lose the entire year. I want to thank our teachers for their persistence and for continuing to teach under difficult conditions," he said.
Makhura also said they want to see distinctions from township schools.
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