Johannesburg, May 1 (IANS): South African schools and universities are going to open under strict conditions to curb the spread of COVID-19, said officials on Thursday.

"We are proposing that we will phase grades in. When we say grades 7 and 12 have to come to school, they will have the whole school to themselves. The other grades will only come later," said Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga at a virtual conference, Xinhua reported.

"We agreed on a number of steps that must be taken to ensure that the health and safety of our learners and teachers are not compromised," she said, measures in the plans include no more than 2 learners sharing desks, no hugging or handshaking, no direct contact, cloth masks to be worn by learners and teachers at all times.

She stated that the school management teams should return to work on May 11 to prepare for school opening, teachers to start on May 18.

She said: "Safety of learners and teachers are considered but also balanced with protecting the school year. All these plans have to be subjected by approval by the department of health. We have to align our plans with departments. We appeal to each one of us, to cooperate; and ensure that we put the interest of the children on top of the priority list."

Motshekga said they wish to carry out awareness campaign particularly in rural areas and sanitize classes before opening the schools.

Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande said the ordinary universities and colleges will start online education while medical students will return to the campus under strict conditions.

The risks of returning to normal campus are simply too great and cannot function successfully, he claimed, "To be specific, our formal institution are made up of 2.5 m students. Universities do not operate in a vacuum."