Since the start of the school year, 15 pupils have died in Gauteng alone, a high number for one province considering the school year has barely started.-
The question is how safe are our children while travelling to and from school, or even on the school premises?
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Nowadays is is common for both parents to work outside the home, so for obvious reasons they often have to make other arrangements for their children’s transport.
In the case I am about to relate, a grade 8 high school student was meant to be picked up after school and dropped off at her grandmother’s home.-
Lo and behold she did not arrive at the allotted time.
When her mother called her on her cellphone to ask her where she was, the girl had no idea, so had to ask the driver.
It turned out she was travelling in the opposite direction to her grandmother’s house.
Why? The driver supposedly had to make a detour to fetch a family member.
This parent had placed her trust in the driver but he thought it was okay to run an errand on the side.
Where was his sense of responsibility?
A second incident occurred at a primary school.
A grade 2 pupil has a chronic medical condition, of which the school is aware.
However, when the child fell ill with a fever, his class teacher sent him to the sick room and did not notify the parents.
He was ‘forgotten’ in the sick room.
His mother only became aware of his illness when an aftercare teacher called her later that afternoon.
When the mother arrived at the school, the secretary claimed she had called her twice and she had not answered the calls.
When the secretary was asked from which number she had called, she was unable to answer. Also, both the child’s parents were points of contact.
In a later call, the secretary said she was sorry as it had been a “hectic” day and admitted that she had not called.
But is an apology sufficient?
While nothing serious happened in either of these incidents, the question ‘what if’ springs to mind.
Placing trust in someone is a big responsibility and the other party has to play his or her part.
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