Police officers armed with guns‚ pepper spray and bulletproof vests have been deployed to schools on the Cape Flats to protect pupils from gangland violence.

The initiative has drawn sharp criticism from the national Education Department‚ and criminolgists have urged caution.

The Western Cape education department‚ the City of Cape Town and US Consul General Teddy Taylor on Thursday unveiled the deployment of 36 metro police officers at 18 schools‚ in Nyanga‚ Gugulethu‚ Hanover Park‚ Bishop Lavis‚ Manenberg and Delft.

There are two policeman at each school. Known as school resource officers‚ they might also be armed with stun guns in future.