Children face a long, dangerous walk to school
Members of the DA joined several learners on their nearly 8km walk to school in Schoemansdal on Monday to highlight the urgent need for scholar transport.
SCHOEMANSDAL – Learners from four local schools have to wake up at 05:00 in the morning and walk nearly eight kilometres to get to school.
To highlight the urgent need for scholar transport, several members of the DA accompanied learners to school on Monday morning.
Pupils from Lugebhuta High, Matsamo Primary, Njeyeza High and Bongokuhle Primary chatted to the DA’s shadow deputy minister of basic education, Nomsa Marchesi, the provincial spokesman for public works, roads and transport, Bosman Grobler, and the provincial spokesman for education and member of the Basic Education Portfolio Committee, Sonja Boshoff.
Many of the learners have to wake up early and leave their homes at 06:00 so they can make it to school on time. They get there tired and unable to concentrate, which affects their schoolwork.
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According to national policy, transport needs to be provided to learners who have to walk more than five kilometres to school.
Marchesi expressed her concern over the long distances learners are forced to walk.
“We have been advocating for scholar transport in all provinces, because we believe there has to be an allocation of scholar budget every year,” she stated.
Sibonele Mngomezulu (14), a grade 8 learner in Lugebhuta High School, said that he wakes up early every day. During winter, when the sun rises later, learners have to wait until the roads get busy before they leave, and they end up getting to school late.
“My mother is not working, so I cannot afford to pay for a taxi. We are scared when we have to walk, because we heard that there are people kidnapping the little ones and raping schoolkids,” he said.
After teachers complained that learners are constantly late, they explained their situation and the school promised to try and find a solution.
“We hope they will try to at least provide one bus for us to ensure our safety, so we can avoid walking a long road to school,” Sibonele said hopefully.
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The DA confirmed that learners from the school “often fall prey to criminals and their lives are endangered daily”.
As the DA members were walking the learners to school, they noticed several safety issues. Young primary school learners are not aware of road safety and have to walk next to or even across the busy provincial road heading to the Jeppes Reef Border Post.
There are no barriers or designated sidewalks to prevent vehicles from endangering pedestrians.
Learners also have to cross a dangerous stream, which gets even more treacherous when it rains.
Grobler said that the time learners spend walking to and from school steals their education time as they are always tired.
“I will take what we’ve experienced today back to the committee, as it is proof that the system is not in place. There’s a tar road here. The department can provide the kids with a bus to pick them up in the morning and drop them off. We hope the department will implement it soon, since we are going to highlight the necessity of it.”
