The basic education department said on Tuesday that all provinces had improved their state of preparedness for 2020 admissions.

“The 2020 admission preparations in all provinces have shown positive improvement, with all provinces having learner admission regulations in place by May 2019,” the department said in a statement.

The department said final placement lists would be done by the end of November.

The statement was released after the department met with parliament's portfolio committee on basic education on Tuesday.

“The packaging process of stationery and textbooks is well under way, with delivery above 95% across all schools. The department has also received approval from National Treasury to procure braille material for learners with special education needs,” the department said.

The department said it had made plans for renovations and repairs to “ailing” school infrastructure.

“The department would continue to strengthen campaigns on cleaning of schools to ensure infrastructure is adequately prepared prior to reopening of schools.”

The department said it would continue to ensure “greater” access to both scholar transport and delivery in the national school nutrition programme (NSNP).

“The department to date provides scholar transport daily to more than 500,000 learners across the country, and an additional 21,307 learners with special needs also receive transport daily. The NSNP continues to show its significance and contribute to learner attainment with in excess of 9.2-million learners receiving nutritious meals across schools daily.”