EFF calls on schools to remain closed until coronavirus cases decrease

This comes after the Department of Basic Education postponed the return of grade 7 and 12 pupils to public schools by a week.

Both grades will now only be back in class on June 8 and not June 1 as originally planned.

EFF spokesperson, Delisile Ngwenya, says there is nothing that suggests that the government will be in a better position to reopen schools on the 8th of June.

"Accordingly, we call on all parents, teachers, maintenance workers and Principals to resist the homicidal program of opening schools on the 8th of June 2020 that places the children of our nation at the doorstep of the deadly Corona Virus," says Ngwenya.

Ngwenya says many schools are not ready to reopen.

"South African schools have displayed no infrastructure readiness to resume operation safely. Many do not have Personal Protective Equipment’s, a majority of black township schools do not have toilets or running water and thousands of schools which have been vandalised during the lockdown are not in a state to resume learning," she adds.

The party has lauded the Education Unions and Governing Bodies for the position they have taken that reopening of schools will be a grievous mistake.

"The unions and governing bodies have confirmed that there has been no dispensation of PPE’s to schools, that the revised curriculum has not been provided and teachers have not been trained with handling the teaching environment in light of COVID-19," concludes Ngwenya.

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