Pupils at a high school in Umzinto, on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast, are demanding a daily “smoke break” - but provincial education authorities are having none of it.

Roseville Secondary School pupils demanded a smoke break between 8am and 9am at a designated area in the school grounds and raised other grievances with the institution's administration, refusing to attend classes last week. Pupils then embarked on a protest.

“We are not going to be held to ransom by kids. They are supposed to be in class learning, and we will not negotiate with them,” provincial education spokesperson Kwazi Mthethwa told TimesLIVE on Thursday.

“They cannot tell us how to run a department. We are not going to allow this kind of behaviour to flourish at schools. We do not promote such behaviour from our learners and we stand firm against anyone who does this.”