About 30 000 pupils in the Eastern Cape still have to walk long distances to and from school this year.
The department of transport in the province yesterday announced a R504-million allocation for scholar tran\sport catering for 80000 pupils at 751 schools.
The budget remains unchanged from last year and again excludes the 30000 pupils.
The portfolio committee on transport in the Bhisho legislature last year raised the issue with pupils.
At the time, the MEC for transport, Weziwe Tikana told the committee her department could only accommodate 80000 with the funds allocated from provincial treasury.
Yesterday Tikana said another “challenge” was the lack of safety and reliability in the taxi service industry.
“To this end the department has decided to review the provincial integrated public transport master plan to ensure that the focus is on the empowerment of the industry,” she said.
“We continue working with the department of education to confirm the number of learners that deserve the service in line with the policy, while we acknowledge that there are learners that are currently not being ferried and we will continue engaging with treasury to address the budget shortfall.”
The Dispatch has reported several times on the debilitating impact of underfunding, which denies transport to schoolchildren who qualify.
lOn February 8 last year 35 children from Mhlwazi village in Khowa (formerly Elliot) did not go to school for more than a month after their school was shut, and transport to their next allotted school 10km away was “unreliable”.
This year these pupils were abandoned completely, said their parents. The children now walk 20km a day there and back – two hours a day. The parents marched to the Engcobo district education office accusing the department of being “selfish”.
lCwecweni village in Tsholomnqa was faced with the same plight, with scores of pupils having to walk more than 14km after the education department closed down a primary school in the area, citing dwindling learner numbers.
Parents claimed that promises of transport to the next school proved hollow.
lIn Peddie, the situation was worse as pupils from four villages in Peddie, including Grade Rs, must walk about 30km to and from school and cross two streams.
lThirty pupils from Tyityaba Lower and Higher Primary have to walk from Woodridge village as they are yet to benefit from the scholar transport programme.
Tikana yesterday promised that her department and the education department would “improve” monitoring mechanisms of scholar transport to ensure that pupils who are eligible were ferried.
She called on parents and teachers to assist in ensuring the safety of the learners. —
zingisam@dispatch.co.za
30 000 pupils still have to walk to school
The department of transport in the province yesterday announced a R504-million allocation for scholar tran\sport catering for 80000 pupils at 751 schools.
The budget remains unchanged from last year and again excludes the 30000 pupils.
The portfolio committee on transport in the Bhisho legislature last year raised the issue with pupils.
At the time, the MEC for transport, Weziwe Tikana told the committee her department could only accommodate 80000 with the funds allocated from provincial treasury.
Yesterday Tikana said another “challenge” was the lack of safety and reliability in the taxi service industry.
“To this end the department has decided to review the provincial integrated public transport master plan to ensure that the focus is on the empowerment of the industry,” she said.
“We continue working with the department of education to confirm the number of learners that deserve the service in line with the policy, while we acknowledge that there are learners that are currently not being ferried and we will continue engaging with treasury to address the budget shortfall.”
The Dispatch has reported several times on the debilitating impact of underfunding, which denies transport to schoolchildren who qualify.
lOn February 8 last year 35 children from Mhlwazi village in Khowa (formerly Elliot) did not go to school for more than a month after their school was shut, and transport to their next allotted school 10km away was “unreliable”.
This year these pupils were abandoned completely, said their parents. The children now walk 20km a day there and back – two hours a day. The parents marched to the Engcobo district education office accusing the department of being “selfish”.
lCwecweni village in Tsholomnqa was faced with the same plight, with scores of pupils having to walk more than 14km after the education department closed down a primary school in the area, citing dwindling learner numbers.
Parents claimed that promises of transport to the next school proved hollow.
lIn Peddie, the situation was worse as pupils from four villages in Peddie, including Grade Rs, must walk about 30km to and from school and cross two streams.
lThirty pupils from Tyityaba Lower and Higher Primary have to walk from Woodridge village as they are yet to benefit from the scholar transport programme.
Tikana yesterday promised that her department and the education department would “improve” monitoring mechanisms of scholar transport to ensure that pupils who are eligible were ferried.
She called on parents and teachers to assist in ensuring the safety of the learners. —
zingisam@dispatch.co.za
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