Learners are always forced to do catch-up lessons for missed school days. Those who fail to catch up will unfortunately have to repeat their classes, prolonging their school years, while some might end up dropping out of the education system. Yet the provincial government sees nothing wrong in prolonging the learners’ school years beyond 12 years.
In previous years, whenever the provincial transport failed to provide scholar transport at the beginning of the academic year, the officials would often give excuse of an exhausted budget, just three months ahead of the end of the financial year. Yet, someone gets paid for misappropriating scholar transport budgets. The provincial department of education often plays blame games with its provincial transport counterpart, without any relief to struggling learners.
The authorities often tell whoever cares to listen that they are always striving to improve the livelihood of the disadvantaged communities. Instead, they have normalised an inhuman environment, by denying the disadvantaged learners access to basic education to improve their future wellbeing. How very sad.
Phepisi Radipere — Ga-Ramokadi-kadi
READER LETTER | Officials give excuses while learners miss school
Image: SINO MAJANGAZA/ Daily Dispatch
The government’s scholar transport contracts are supposed to be operational from April to March of the following year, as the period is the state’s financial year.
But in the Eastern Cape, the provincial department of transport’s scholar transport contracts are often operational for less than 12 months. At the end of each academic year, officials know beforehand about upcoming scholar transport in the coming year, but do nothing to remedy the upcoming challenges.
Every year, officials always have reasons for not providing scholar transport, mainly due to inadequate planning for disadvantaged learners. For this year’s fiasco, they blame the complicated process of issuing contracts to new operators. Someone is responsible for monitoring the provincial scholar transport, yet the same someone does not seem to know when contracts are going to lapse. On a sad note, a person gets paid for being forgetful.
‘Drunk driver’ arrested carrying 23 pupils to school in Cape Town
Learners are always forced to do catch-up lessons for missed school days. Those who fail to catch up will unfortunately have to repeat their classes, prolonging their school years, while some might end up dropping out of the education system. Yet the provincial government sees nothing wrong in prolonging the learners’ school years beyond 12 years.
In previous years, whenever the provincial transport failed to provide scholar transport at the beginning of the academic year, the officials would often give excuse of an exhausted budget, just three months ahead of the end of the financial year. Yet, someone gets paid for misappropriating scholar transport budgets. The provincial department of education often plays blame games with its provincial transport counterpart, without any relief to struggling learners.
The authorities often tell whoever cares to listen that they are always striving to improve the livelihood of the disadvantaged communities. Instead, they have normalised an inhuman environment, by denying the disadvantaged learners access to basic education to improve their future wellbeing. How very sad.
Phepisi Radipere — Ga-Ramokadi-kadi
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