This study sought to establish stakeholder perceptions of the state of readiness of the Eastern Cape Department of Education to respond to COVID-19 pandemic. The study adopted a case-study design within a qualitative approach. Data was gathered from two subject specialists, 11 principals and 11 teachers in one district of the Department of Education (DoE) in South Africa through semi-structured telephonic interviews. Data was analysed through a thematic analysis framework after themes were generated during content analytical processing of the data. Permission was sought from and granted by the participants. Findings revealed that the district was plagued by inaccessibility and lack of savviness about information and communication technologies and related resources which manifested through poor ICT infrastructure and lack of blended learning pedagogy and policy. It also emerged that teachers and learners lacked motivation to use ICTs in teaching and learning which was evident through lack of personal drive. Poor visionary leadership and management in schools costed decision making processes, as well as lack of effective ICT teacher training and induction opportunities. The study concluded that while the DoE is desperate to rescue the school calendar, findings indicated strongly that the province was not ready. Recommendations include the need for the DoE to implement ICT for teaching through intense teacher training on the use of these tools and technologies to enable appropriate near future implementation of online learning and e-learning technologies. Internet connectivity should also be prioritised and be made readily available to learners.

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