Parents forced to walk pupils to school

HUNDREDS of pupils at Sinomonde Primary School in Fort Grey near the East London Airport had to walk to school yesterday morning after their scholar transport dumped them.

According to parents, the owner of the bus told them he would only be transporting 50 of the 500 children meant to be transported.

Accompanied by their parents, pupils as young as five years old walked from surrounding informal settlements and townships, the closest township being 5km away from the school.

When the Dispatch visited the school at around mid-morning, pupils could be seen walking to and from school. More than 100 parents had gathered at the school.

Speaking to the Daily Dispatch, the parents said they were given no explanation for the sudden reduction in the number of children to be transported.

“We are here to they said.

Parent Linda Thoboyi from Orange demand answers,” Grove said she took her child to the bus stop at around 6.30am, where more than 200 children had already gathered.

“When the bus arrived it was led by the owner who was travelling in his private vehicle. The owner got out of his car and told us only 50 children will be transported. Many children were left behind, including mine,” Thoboyi said.

Sisanda Mshweshwe said the parents decided to walk with their children for safety reasons.

“As you can see this is a very bushy area, people get robbed and children are hit by cars on the street. The MEC of Education, Mandla Makupula, must come and resolve this,” Mshweshwe said.

A school official, who did not give his name, saying he was not permitted to speak to the media, said the principal had gone to the East London district office to report.

During a media briefing on school readiness last month, the department of transport revealed that despite a slight increase in the number of pupils benefiting from the scholar transport programme, once again thousands would be left out due to budget constraints.

More than R460-million has been allocated to transport 70 854 pupils throughout the province but the department says demand for the service was at 107 000 pupils.

Transport MEC Weziwe Tikana earlier said they were unable to meet the demand due to budget constraints so pupils travelling longer distances to school were prioritised.

At the time of writing the department of transport had not responded to questions sent to them. —