Schools closed over scholar transport
Some children will have to walk more than 20km a day in unsafe terrain
Gates remain closed at five Eastern Cape schools because the government has failed to provide transport for pupils.
It is the worst possible start to the new year, parents say.
Seven hundred pupils and their parents clamoured for a response at Ngwenyathi High School in Nxarhuni village outside East London on Thursday morning. School governing body member Colina Sikiti said some children would have to walk more than 20km a day.
“We were told by the principal in November that there would be no transport for our children this year,” Sikiti said.
The school achieved a 93% matric pass rate in the 2019 exams, up from 87% in 2018.
“The children have been sitting outside. This is bad.
“If our children have to walk long distances they might end up being victims of crime, there are bushes and dangerous roads they have to go through.”
She said the scholar transport had been running for three years without any problems.
When the Dispatch visited the school on Thursday, some pupils were outside, while others were starting the long walk home. A teacher who asked not to be named as she is not authorised to speak to the media said they were informed by the transport department that three bus routes were closing.
“Parents went to the government numerous times last year because they could see this would end up being a problem. “This school serves a large part of this community.
“A co-ordinator from [the] transport [department] told us this is a new policy and when we tell parents about policies they think we consented.”
She fears the situation will have a negative impact on schooling, despite the school’s best efforts. “We had already started putting our systems in place. We wanted to issue out stationery and be ready to start with lessons.
“Starting with instability and children not knowing what is happening will affect our results at the end of the year.”
In Qumbu, for Maqhutyana Technical High School, Qumbu High School and Little Flower High School it was the same.
Qumbu community leader
Nelisile Vula said: “We were just told that we must try to endure the next three months as budget will only be available to transport children in April.”
A teacher at Feziwe Primary School in Phumlani said the community vowed to close the R72 on Friday unless the transport situation is rectified.
Asked to comment specifically on the scholar transport situation, provincial education spokesperson Loyiso Pulumani instead said: “I have been made to understand that there are parents who are demanding that their learners be transported even though they did not lodge applications for them last year as per procedure.”
Transport spokesperson Unathi Binqose said the department would issue a “full roundup of our readiness for scholar transport in due time.