At least four pupils have died at various schools in Gauteng this week.
Three of them died in separate incidents on Tuesday from causes including poisoning, while another passed away the following day.
The education also had to deal with other incidents.
This year started on a rocky note for many schools in the country with two pupils drowning in Gauteng and five others dying in Limpopo.
There were also freak accidents, bullying incidents, the rape of a pupil, the assault of a teacher allegedly by parents and vicious fighting amongst pupils.
This week four pupils died in separate incidents at schools around Gauteng – three of them in one day.
The education department said police were investigating all the incidents.