Cape Town – Education MEC Debbie Schäfer made an about-turn on the cancellation of scholar transport in Beaufort West.
The department cancelled the transport at the start of the school year, forcing hundreds of pupils to walk up to 12km to school.
Some had to cross the busy N1 highway by foot.
The department said pupils lived closer than 5km, but parents, teachers and principals disputed it.
Schäfer yesterday admitted the N1 highway the pupils had to cross was indeed “a very busy national road carrying many large trucks every day”.
“I have decided to uphold the appeal of a WCED decision to cancel the learner transport route in Beaufort West, and the transport route will be reinstated with immediate effect While there are pedestrian crossings over the N1, no traffic officers were there at the time we arrived, just after 7am.
“I am advised they are supposed to be, but given that they were not, it is clear that we cannot rely on them. For children to try to negotiate this on their own poses a danger.
“There are also no traffic lights at any of the crossings,” she said.
Community leader Mcebisi Kilani said the MEC should have prioritised the previously disadvantaged childrens’ needs a long time ago.
“You can tell by how she operates that she has no interest in schools that are in the townships and farms. The department is playing hide-and-seek about issues that are of paramount in importance in the community. As disadvantaged communities, we will continue demanding a better life,” Kilani said.
ANC provincial spokesperson on education Khalid Sayed welcomed Schäfer’s
decision.
“We caution against the arbitrary cancellation occurring again.
“We hope that this sets the tone for the rest of the province, where WCED must take socio-economic conditions into account in specific localities and not Google Maps when determining access to learner transport.
“We trust that the legislature and community oversight will be taken seriously and that communities would not need to protest for basic concerns about learner access to education to be heard,” said Sayed.
Separately, Equal Education (EE) has called on Schäfer to fight to increase her budget.
The advocacy group said education MECs were “perpetually blaming budget constraints for the violation of learners’ rights to education, safety and dignity”.
“Schools located in crime-ridden areas across the province continue to be vulnerable to vandalism, gang activity and robbery.
“Learner-on-learner violence, and violence between learners and teachers, is far too prevalent.
“Detailed budget information is vital for school communities to assess whether the WCED’s programmes and interventions are achieving what they set out to,” they said.