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'Close shebeens near schools'
09/01/2007 18:44 - (SA)
Johannesburg - Shebeens near schools are a source of school violence and an access to drugs and alcohol, said the Young Communist League of South Africa on Tuesday.
The league was announcing at a Johannesburg news 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 near schools.
This would be done by working closely with community organisations, pupil 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.
No-fee policy to be monitored
Therefore the league was disappointed that the government was dragging its feet in closing down these shebeens.
The campaign also would 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 charging 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 result 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.
Manamela said: "We are drawing on the success of our school reopening programme last year when we visited more than 300 schools together with Sadtu, Cosas, ANCYL and Sasco.
"We managed to attend to a variety of problems and drew in participation of provincial and national governments in resolving such problems."
Visting schools
The league will start with inland schools which will open on Wednesday in the Free State, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, North West, and Northern Province.
The league will visit schools in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Cape and Western Cape when they reopen on January 17.
The Young Communist League is the youth wing of the SA Communist Party.
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