Shebeens near schools are a source of school violence and an access to drugs and alcohol for minors, the Young Communist League of South Africa (YCLSA) said on Tuesday.
The league was announcing at a Johannesburg press conference the launch of its Joe Slovo ”Right to Learn” campaign, which will run from Thursday until the end of January.
National secretary Buti Manamela said the programme would deal with issues such as the closure of shebeens located near schools.
This would be done by working closely with community organisations, learner representative councils, church groups, ward committees, school-governing bodies and civic organisations.
The league said it had been ”reliably informed” that provincial governments were mainly responsible for the regulation of alcohol-sales points. Therefore the league was disappointed that the government was dragging its feet in closing down these shebeens.
The campaign would also ensure that the no-fee school policy was implemented. The policy was announced last year by Education Minister Naledi Pandor, who stated that some schools would be excluded from paying fees.
The league added that late delivery of stationery had been a causal effect in the low level of the matric pass rate.
Manamela said principals at schools that did not perform well in their matric results should not be dismissed.
”We don’t think the isolation of principals of schools that have not performed well will help the situation.”
During the campaign, the league would use the opportunity for national committee members and YCLSA cadres to speak to pupils and motivate them.
”We are drawing on the success of our last year’s school-reopening programme,” Manamela said.
The league will start with inland schools in the Free State, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, North West and Northern Province, which will open on Wednesday.
The Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Cape and Western Cape will be visited by the league when the schools open on January 17.
The Young Communist League is the youth wing of the South African Communist Party. — Sapa