A small group of pupils protested outside the offices of the department of basic education in Pretoria on Tuesday ahead of the mock swearing-in ceremony of Minister Angie Motshekga by rights organisation Equal Education (EE).

The organisation planned the gathering at the department offices to set priorities for Motshekga and provincial education MECs. The swearing-in will be done by pupils wearing masks of the faces of different education MECs from five provinces.

Pupils in school uniform carried placards with messages such as: "#Saferschools, #Howmanymustdie, #normsandstandards.

Equal Education says Motshekga has had 10 years to eradicate dangerous and undignified school infrastructure; curb violence within schools; provide safe and reliable scholar transport.

EE spokesperson Leanne Jansen-Thomas said they were also reiterating their call for Motshekga to intervene regarding the embarrassing state of the annual provincial school infrastructure reports, and for Motshekga’s performance contract to be made public.

"We will hand over a memorandum to the department  in the form of a performance contract that we have drafted for Minister Motshekga.

Minister Motshekga must make the next five years count," said Jansen-Thomas.