Learners and parents residing in Slovo Park and Payneville held a peaceful protest at the Department of Education in the Gauteng East district in Springs on February 3.

The protest called on the department to address the issue of learners without scholar buses. According to the parents, the buses have not been to the areas from February 2 onward to pick up the children in the morning.

The protest, led by a parent and community activist, Refilwe Pikiso, was accompanied by a number of learners from various schools, including Eureka Secondary School, Lefa Ifa Secondary School, and Phulong Secondary School.

Speaking to the Springs Advertiser at the district, Bongiwe Hlakanya (18) and Lihlelethu Ntshikaniso (14) expressed their fear of being left behind with schoolwork due to the lack of transport to schools.

Ntshikaniso said that they came to the district to find out what was happening because they were not notified.
She said that their parents received the message that buses will not be available on the evening of February 2.

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Learners and parents from Slovo Park and Payneville held a protest at Department of Education at the Gauteng East District regarding absence of buses to take them to school. #ekurhulenimetro #springs #departmentofeducation #protest

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“We have not been to school since January 30 and were unable to alert the teachers about the matter that we are facing.

“I am in Grade Eight, and we do fear we might miss some of the syllabus from the curriculum, but by being here, we hope that they hear our grievance because the social grant we receive is not enough to pay for everything, including transport,” said Ntshikaniso.

Hlakanya said that some parents are unemployed and cannot afford transport for their children. She added that most parents opted for the buses because they are free and accommodate many children from their areas.

“I am so disappointed that the department failed to let us know that we will not be having buses to school, and as girls, we cannot risk walking or hitchhiking because of hijackings in the country, so it is not safe at all.

“If the matter is not resolved, more children will resort to quitting because their families don’t have enough money to get scholar transport for them. We need the department to do something quickly,” expressed Hlakanya.

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One of the concerned parents, Melody Maphosa, said that as parents, they are disappointed that they were alerted late about the matter, which did not give them a chance to make other plans for their children. Maphosa has a daughter who relies on the department’s buses because she was injured.

“Due to the nature of her injuries, she could not come here because we walked from Slovo Park to the district. What the department is doing to our children is sad because they are missing out on schoolwork as we speak.”

“The areas that we live in do not have a high school, so our children have no choice but to go to schools in KwaThema. We need them to build a high school for these children so we don’t face such challenges,” said Maphosa.

A few of the parents, including Pikiso, were allowed in to meet with district officials. Afterwards, Pikiso gave feedback, stating that the district will report back on the matter after officials have spoken with the Gauteng education MEC and the Department of Roads and Transport.

“The officials assured us that they will prioritise the matriculants as their syllabus is short, so we will wait for them to report back to us, and they told us that they will alert the schools where our children go about the matter and that the teachers will pause a bit for our children,” said Pikiso.

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