The Democratic Alliance says, while it supports the Department of Education's decision to reopen schools as the country grapples with Covid-19, it will be closely monitoring the implementation of plans to ensure they are ready, safe and clean.

READ | Maimane's petition for schools to remain closed for 3 more months gains traction

Bozzoli said the DA acknowledged that reopening schools was controversial and tricky, but that it was also of the view that they should open without posing a danger to pupils.

Bozzoli added that the party would not be supporting any school opening, unless it was ready with all relevant PPEs, saying they were also of the view that teachers should go back only if they were not in danger of contracting the virus.

ALSO READ: No visitors, 3 screenings a day - all you need to know about Gauteng's plan for school reopening

Bozzoli said the resumption, particularly for Grade 7 and 12s, was necessary because the pupils needed to move up, with matrics needing their National Senior Certificates to proceed to tertiary education institutions.

While unions have criticised the plan to reopen schools, arguing that they were not ready, Bozzoli said teachers needed to wait until all PPEs were delivered - and then assess whether there was readiness or not.