Kampong Seila students thumb rides to school
ON A typical school day, Him Chichang, a grade 7 student, enjoys his breakfast, grabs his school bag and goes to wait for his ride to school.
The 16-year-old from Chamkar Luong commune’s Samdech Ta village of Preah Sihanouk province’s Kampong Seila district is not waiting for a school bus, but for a truck passing by on its way from Phnom Penh to the coastal province. This is how he makes his way to Hun Sen High School, by hitchhiking.
“My friends and I wait in a group of up to 10 people and wait for a truck to drop. When we arrive at school, he drops us off and continues on his way. We return home the same way,” he told The Post.
Kong Sovuthy, principal of the school, says this has been how students have been commuting since the school opened in 2000.
“Some of the parents in Samdech Ta – which is 5-6km from the school – cannot afford to provide motorcycles for their children. Others can, but do not consider the roadway safe,” Sovuthy said.
The principal, who has been in office since 2006 when the school was upgraded to Hun Sen High School, said that nearly 100 students regularly hitchhike to school.
“As the beginning and end of the school day, we see many large trucks stopping outside the school. The military police even help to manage the traffic,” he said.
Yang Pros, who used to drive trucks in the area, said he remembered the students of the Kampong Seila school, who were always waiting to board his truck.
“I would always stop and pick up five or six students,” he said.
He said they were outside their homes and outside the school in the afternoon. If the trucks did not stop, they would not be able to get to school. Most drivers were aware that there were students in the area that needed a ride, and were happy to pick them up.
The 41-year-old said that trucks could help the students, as smaller cars and SUVs are working as business taxis and cannot accept free passengers.
“I don’t know how this tradition began, but I did it for the five or six years I drove on that route. Originally, I drove a sand truck, and could take more students. Almost all of the drivers on that route stop for the kids, whether they wave or not,” he added.
He said it was the safest way for children to get to school, as that section of National Road 4 was narrow and most of the traffic on it was very fast.
Pros, who now drives a different route, said: “Sometimes, students had to walk home if there were no trucks passing by.”
Hang Ry, a 13-year-old grade seven student, said that sometimes he missed school when no trucks stopped for him.
“Perhaps once a month, I cannot catch a ride. My parents are too busy working to take me to school,” he said.
Principal Sovuthy said there are usually enough trucks waiting for them, but if classes ran late, they could find they had missed their chance to hitchhike.
Chichang’s father Horn Vichea, a 40-year-old farmer and construction worker, said that he and his wife – also a construction worker – could not afford to buy their son a motorcycle to ride to school. He added that his son was often poorly, and not strong enough to ride a bicycle the full distance to school.
“Even if I could afford a motorbike for him, I would not allow him to drive on that busy road – there are many speeding cars. When he is riding in big trucks, I have confidence in his safety,” he told The Post.
He added that he had met with the village chief to discuss the situation, but no solution was forthcoming.
As a truck driver, Pros agreed that a school bus service would be the best solution. Sometimes it was hard for truck drivers to find parks easily, and when it was raining, they often did not see the students.
“The drivers are also concerned
about the safety of the kids. As far as I know, there has never been an accident, but I cannot imagine the guilt a driver would feel if he made a mistake and a child got hurt. We have to be very careful,” he said.
“I used to ask the students who were getting on my truck if they were worried about their personal safety, and they always said ‘Uncle, if there was no truck we would not get to school.’ I’m also worried that some drivers may have bad intentions,” he added.
The school’s principal said that he did not have the budget for a school bus, but had brought his concern to the district and provincial level. They had collected student date twice, he added.
Kao Borey Vathak, the governor of Kampong Seila district, said that he had visited the school and spoken to the principal. He said that most of the students had the means to travel,
but afraid to drive on National Road 4. Hitchhiking on trucks was easier for them, and had become a habit.
He said he had studied the issue, but could not justify the expense of providing transport to nearly 100 students.
“This does not mean we don’t care about them, but we do not have a spare bus. It looks like most o them could ride motorcycles,” Borey Vathak.
The Phnom Penh-Sihanouk expressway will further complicate things when it opens in October, both Sovuthy and Borey Vathak agreed.
“We can’t be certain because it has not opened yet, but I think if big trucks are required to use the expressway, small cars will drive even faster. This will mean there are no trucks to hitchhike with, and a more dangerous road,” said Sovuthy.
“Even when the expressway is open, I don’t believe that all of the trucks will use it because it is a atoll road,” said Borey Vathak.