THE EFF has slammed the Gauteng Department of Education for failing to place all pupils in schools.
Members of the party picketed outside the department offices in Joburg on Wednesday, 15 February.
They said about 2 000 kids were still not placed in school because the department failed to do so.
Provincial chairman Nkululeko Dunga said the department needed to make a commitment to ensure there was a proper programme of action to ensure that all pupils were placed by Thursday, 16 February.
He also complained about overcrowding, calling on the department to use its yearly budget to build more schools.
“The department needs to use 30% of the budget to build schools, provide proper scholar transport, and give pupils good nutritional meals,” he said.
Dunga said that pupils were given unhealthy meals, while some were forced to walk long distances to school.
“We also call on the department to interrogate all these contracts for school meals because some of them do not adhere to health standards,” he said.
Dunga said that they were demanding the department to pause online applications because they believed it was the main problem faced by pupils.
“Why can’t pupils be placed at schools that are convenient? We are not saying online placements should be cancelled.
“We just want it put on ice until these problems are solved,” he said.
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Dunga said that the party would be meeting with department officials to hand over a memorandum of demands.
Gauteng education spokesman Steve Mabona said they had received the EFF’s memorandum, and the department still needed to go through it before they could respond.
