GRADE 10 pupil Thabisa Rolinyathi wakes up at 5am every morning to prepare for school.After hurriedly getting dressed, the Tsholomnqa High School pupil leaves the house at 5.30am for a gruelling 21km walk to school.
She and fellow pupils have been doing this since their scholar transport stopped in 2010 with no proper explanation.
Rolinyathi is one of 10 pupils from the school who live in Kayser’s Beach.
The Saturday Dispatch this week walked with the pupils, who were joined by others from Ncera Villages 1 to 8, who walk a distance of 12km to the school in Mpongo Location.
“Even though I leave the house so early I still get to school late because the distance is so long,” Rolinyathi said.
“Usually I miss three periods and I have to either ask the teacher what I missed or ask my friends to help me catch up.”
Rolinyathi, the middle child of a family of three, said her domestic worker mother could not afford to pay for private transport to get her to school. “My father died years ago so there’s no one to assist my mother financially. We live in a shack.
“When my mother says she has no money, I have no choice but to believe her.”
This story was echoed by close to 100 other pupils from the school who spoke to the Dispatch on Thursday.
According to the pupils, school shoes are replaced on a monthly basis while they open themselves up to being victims of crime when they hitchhike.
The temptation to drop out of school is very high, the pupils said, as the daily walk was exhausting.
Rainy days were a real challenge, they added, as they were soaking wet by the time they arrived at school.
“I started Grade 8 in 2010 and only got to enjoy the scholar transport for two months before it disappeared,” Grade 11 pupil Siyavuya Paul said.
“This walk is painful, it’s not a joke at all. Our teachers often drive past us walking along on this road and they never ever stop for us but when we do eventually get to school we get a beating for being late.”
Sisanda Madosi, in Grade 11, said they still had to attend to their household chores when they returned from school.
“You get to school late, tired, knowing that you still have to walk back home. I normally get home at about 6pm, then I have to cook and clean and only then I can start my homework and study,” she said.
Teachers said they were also affected by the lack of scholar transport. They all asked to remain anonymous for fear of victimisation by the education department.
“Matric exams have to start at a set time but what do you do as a teacher when you get a pupil coming in at 12pm for an exam which started at 9am?” one teacher asked.
Another said the pupils could not concentrate in class.
“I’m forced to hold weekend classes in my own time so I can help them catch up otherwise many of them will fail,” he said.
When contacted for comment earlier this week, department of transport director of communications Ncedo Kumbaca urged the parents to liaise with the education department as only they could highlight the school as a priority for transport.
At a mass meeting held at Xameni Community Hall in Tsholomnqa last month, education officials explained that budget constraints had affected scholar transport in many rural areas.
However, parents were given forms to apply for scholar transport and told to hand them in before the deadline of July 31. — zisandan@dispatch.co.za
VIDEO: Long walk to education 'no joke'
After hurriedly getting dressed, the Tsholomnqa High School pupil leaves the house at 5.30am for a gruelling 21km walk to school.
She and fellow pupils have been doing this since their scholar transport stopped in 2010 with no proper explanation.
Rolinyathi is one of 10 pupils from the school who live in Kayser’s Beach.
The Saturday Dispatch this week walked with the pupils, who were joined by others from Ncera Villages 1 to 8, who walk a distance of 12km to the school in Mpongo Location.
“Even though I leave the house so early I still get to school late because the distance is so long,” Rolinyathi said.
“Usually I miss three periods and I have to either ask the teacher what I missed or ask my friends to help me catch up.”
Rolinyathi, the middle child of a family of three, said her domestic worker mother could not afford to pay for private transport to get her to school. “My father died years ago so there’s no one to assist my mother financially. We live in a shack.
“When my mother says she has no money, I have no choice but to believe her.”
This story was echoed by close to 100 other pupils from the school who spoke to the Dispatch on Thursday.
According to the pupils, school shoes are replaced on a monthly basis while they open themselves up to being victims of crime when they hitchhike.
The temptation to drop out of school is very high, the pupils said, as the daily walk was exhausting.
Rainy days were a real challenge, they added, as they were soaking wet by the time they arrived at school.
“I started Grade 8 in 2010 and only got to enjoy the scholar transport for two months before it disappeared,” Grade 11 pupil Siyavuya Paul said.
“This walk is painful, it’s not a joke at all. Our teachers often drive past us walking along on this road and they never ever stop for us but when we do eventually get to school we get a beating for being late.”
Sisanda Madosi, in Grade 11, said they still had to attend to their household chores when they returned from school.
“You get to school late, tired, knowing that you still have to walk back home. I normally get home at about 6pm, then I have to cook and clean and only then I can start my homework and study,” she said.
Teachers said they were also affected by the lack of scholar transport. They all asked to remain anonymous for fear of victimisation by the education department.
“Matric exams have to start at a set time but what do you do as a teacher when you get a pupil coming in at 12pm for an exam which started at 9am?” one teacher asked.
Another said the pupils could not concentrate in class.
“I’m forced to hold weekend classes in my own time so I can help them catch up otherwise many of them will fail,” he said.
When contacted for comment earlier this week, department of transport director of communications Ncedo Kumbaca urged the parents to liaise with the education department as only they could highlight the school as a priority for transport.
At a mass meeting held at Xameni Community Hall in Tsholomnqa last month, education officials explained that budget constraints had affected scholar transport in many rural areas.
However, parents were given forms to apply for scholar transport and told to hand them in before the deadline of July 31. — zisandan@dispatch.co.za
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