No end in sight to pupils' long walk

MORE than 120000 pupils nationwide are faced with the daily challenge of long walks to school, and the situation doesn't seem likely to change soon.

In a written reply to parliament recently, Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga revealed that there were 125403 pupils who qualified to be transported through scholar transport but were not benefiting from the service.

In her parliamentary reply, Motshekga said budgetary constraints were a hindrance in providing scholar transport to all those who qualified.

Communities have resorted to using bakkies to transport children to school, leading to crashes that have claimed more than 10 lives between last year and early this year.

Just this week, 20 pupils were injured when a bakkie transporting them from school overturned in Gamalakhe, near Port Shepstone, in KwaZulu-Natal.

In January, also in KwaZulu-Natal, a bakkie carrying 24 pupils crashed into a house, killing seven pupils in Imbali, near Pietermaritzburg.

Last year, a Sowetan investigation exposed how pupils as young as six had to risk their lives by crossing dangerous rivers and being packed onto the back of unroadworthy taxis and bakkies to get to the nearest schools because of lack of scholar transport.

Sowetan also reported on the horrific deaths of five pupils who were killed when the driver of a bakkie transporting them to school lost control of the vehicle, which plunged into a sludge dam in Glenmore near Mooi River, also in KwaZulu-Natal.

The pupils used to travel two hours to get to Senzokuhle Combined School, which is the nearest school, before using the bakkie.

According to the National Treasury's budget estimates, R47-million was budgeted for scholar transport in the 2014/2015 financial year, R65-million for 2016/2017 and R74-million for 2017/2018.

Motshekga said there were 481535 pupils across the country who needed scholar transport but only 358283 were being transported.

Sherylle Dass of Equal Education Law Centre said the number might not be accurate and that there were far more pupils who needed the service but were not aware that they qualified. "We are assuming [the number] on the basis of those that apply, and that does not give you the bigger picture.

"There are those in rural areas who are not aware of the policy and are in dire need of scholar transport."

The law centre and Equal Education recently ran a campaign in KwaZulu-Natal where they visited 13 schools in Nquthu to find pupils who walk long distances to get to the nearest schools.

"In Nquthu, we found children who walk two hours to school and these learners have not been provided with scholar transport," she said.

Motshekga revealed in her reply that the largest number of pupils not being transported through the scholar transport system was in KwaZulu-Natal, at 48769, Eastern Cape at 37762 and 28616 in North West.

Free State and Limpopo had the least number of pupils not being transported, which was 172 and 873 respectively.

DA shadow minister of basic education Desiree van der Walt said scholar transport should be part of the "non-negotiables" in the basic education sector.

macupeb@sowetan.co.za