Long trip to school to secure superior education

THE FIGHT for better education was at the top of the list during the June 16 marches in 1976. On that morning, thousands of learners from Soweto gathered to participate in a student-organised protest for quality education.

During the apartheid era, education was viewed as a part of the overall apartheid system, including “homelands”, urban restrictions, pass laws and job reservation. The Bantu Educational system was designed to “train and fit” Africans for their role in this segregated society.

The homeland policy also relocated many black South Africans to inaccessible areas, where learners lacked schools, and this forced them to travel long distances every day to get access to schools.

Today, however, this quest for better education still continues, with children travelling long distances to suburban areas where schools are seen to be better compared to the ones in townships.

*Lindo, a Grade 3 learner, is one of those pupils.

At only nine years old, she spends an hour and 20 minutes travelling to school every morning from her Soweto home to her school in Parkhurst.

This is done despite the fact that, for many children like her, there are schools in their neighbourhoods.

However, these schools are not seen as good enough. They are seen not to have the same facilities and quality teaching as schools in suburban areas, or previously white areas. This forces learners to wake up very early in the morning and spend a significant amount of time sitting in morning traffic.

The mornings are always busy for Lindo. Her mother wakes her up for school at 5.50am at their home in Orlando East to get ready for the day.

After showering, she puts on her uniform and goes to the kitchen to have breakfast. Sometimes she leaves without having eaten anything because there is no time.

To save time, her mom *Sibongile and father *Musa always make sure their daughter’s lunch is packed and ready to go the night before.

Her school transport arrives at 6.10am to take her to school at Parkhurst Primary School.

When the transport comes it picks her up and travels through Orlando and surrounding areas to pick up other learners and transport them to their school.

The minibus taxi drives through Diepkloof before proceeding to the freeway and then the N1.

It is normally at this time that the children use this opportunity to catch a few more minutes of sleep.

The minibus arrives at Parkhurst Primary just before 7.30am. When the school bell rings at the end of the day, Lindo either goes home with transport immediately or she attends extramural activities. She normally arrives home around 3.30pm or 4pm.

This long and fairly expensive trek from Soweto to Parkhurst begs the question: Why not take the child to a school closer to their home?

Musa and his wife said they looked around for suitable schools in their area.

“I went to a few and I wasn’t happy with a few things, so we decided that we should find another school for her.

“Most of the schools near my home are okay, to be honest, but they lack the facilities that schools in white areas have, and my wife and I were aware of that.”

The spokesperson for the Gauteng Department of Education, Steve Mabona, said Gauteng schools were not the same in all respects.

“Due to spatial arrangements, some schools have indoor sport facilities while others can have, say, a cricket oval instead of a rugby field.

“The department is trying its best within the budget limitations to provide basic facilities which ensure that teaching and learning takes place in a conducive environment.

“The introduction of ICT in education (e-learning) in township schools is but one of the innovations to ensure that poor conditions are eliminated and to move towards parity in all schools,” he added.

Musa said he would prefer that his daughter did not have to be up so early but, although Lindo struggled with her early routine in the beginning, she had adjusted over time.

Clinical psychologist Cristine Scolari said Lindo’s situation was not ideal for a child in primary school. “It puts a lot of stress on children where they could be too tired to thrive in the classroom,” she said.

“Travel time will also impede on children’s free time where learners in primary school need to play and still have time for homework and extramural activities.”

*Not their real names.

Sometimes she leaves without having eaten anything…