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While many learners throughout the country are preparing for their mid-year examinations, at least 88 learners at Clarkson Junior Secondary School in Tsitsikamma have allegedly been left stranded without scholar transport since February.
Eugene Afrika, member of the School Governing Body, said that 74 learners stay in the Guava Juice Farm area, which is approximately 11km from the school, while 14 learners are on the Splandora Route, which includes various farms in the area that are more than 30km away.
He said that all 88 learners are dependent on scholar transport and as a result have not been attending school regularly.
Afrika said that since the scholar transport issue began in February, the parents in the Guava Juice Farm area have been walking the 11km to school alongside the learners because of safety concerns.
“The route to school is dangerous because the learners and parents have to walk through bushes and cross the N2,” said Afrika.
In addition, he said that since the lengthy walk to school is weather permitting, the attendance rate has been inconsistent.
Further commenting on the issue of safety, Afrika said that on one occasion while walking alone through the bushes, a female learner was chased by an unknown man. Thankfully, she was able to escape unharmed.
Referring to the learners on the Splandora Route, Afrika said that the 14 learners have not been to school since February since it is too far for them to walk, and they do not have alternative methods of transportation.
“The local taxis charge R750 per child per month which is unaffordable for many families especially when they have more than one child,” said Afrika.
With the mid-year examinations fast approaching, he said that he was concerned about the school time many learners have missed due to the scholar transport issue.
Afrika said that he was also concerned that the affected learners would not be able to attend their examination sessions.
He said that they have informed the Department of Transport about the challenges the learners faced without scholar transport, but no solution has been made to deal with the matter.
Eastern Cape Department of Transport spokesperson, Unathi Binqose, said that the situation with the scholar transport at Clarkson Junior Secondary is a result of the adjustment in scholar transport beneficiaries which was down to 90 000 from last year’s 103 000.
However, with the new readjustments moving from 90 000 back to 103 000 he said that they hope the Department of Education will include the learners at Clarkson Junior Secondary on their priority list so that they can be catered for.
“Employees from the contracts division are busy contracting operators and learners as per the list received by the Department of Education,” said Binqose.
“When it comes to the issue of prioritising learners, that responsibility lies entirely with the Department of Education.”
