Learner transport policy is leaving our children behind
There is a severe lack of reliable statistics on how many learners require transport to school and on how many vehicles, used to transport learners, are in fact roadworthy.
This was revealed at today’s presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education by the Department of Transport.
The DA will seek a meeting with the Director Generals (DG) of the Departments of Basic Education and Transport to submit our proposals on how the current policy can be amended to include the learners who are currently deprived of transport to their places of learning.
At this meeting the DA will also reiterate our call to refine the Learner Transport policy so it actually addresses the needs of learners and that the policy not be gazetted until this is done.
In its presentation, the Department of Transport claims only 1% of learners in the Free State, 2% in Limpopo and only 3% of learners in KwaZulu-Natal require transport. Intuitively, this cannot be right. This means that learners who require transport to get to school, are being left behind.
Furthermore, it is alarming that Department of Transport has no idea how many vehicles transporting learners are in fact roadworthy, nor do they have any plans to enforce road-worthiness standards.
It also emerged that, as the both the Departments of Basic Education and Transport share responsibility for the provision of transport, it is almost impossible for National Treasury to hold either department to account. This also allows each department to point fingers at the other for their failings.
The Learner Transport Policy is supposed to put learners first through guidelines for effective, efficient and safe learner public transport services. Yet, it is a fact that 30%, or roughly one out of every three learners, who require transport are not being provided with it. This is despite a budget of R2.3 billion which is provided for scholar transport.
Education is vital to pursuing a better life. How can we expect better results from our learners when one third are having to walk kilometres, often through dangerous areas, just to get to school, which then impacts negatively on their ability to absorb their lessons?
Forcing children to walk long distances to school and back is not only dangerous but also infringes on their right to education as enshrined in our Constitution. The current learner transport policy still leaves many children without the necessary transport to ensure access to education that they deserve.
In May, Cabinet approved this totally inadequate National Learner Transport Policy, bypassing Parliament in the process. The Chairperson of the Committee on Basic Education, Ms Nomalungelo Gina, had formally requested that a revised version of the policy be returned to the committee before finalisation. However, the revised version was not presented to the Committee and we were denied the opportunity to comment.
It is government’s responsibility to ensure that all children, no matter the circumstances of their birth, are assisted in any way possible to access quality education. The current learner transport policy does not do this.
The DA will continue to push for a learner transport policy that ensures that safe and reliable learner transport services are in place so as to provide the maximum benefit for our children and so that their right to access education is upheld.
Issued by Desiree van der Walt, DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Basic Education, 8 September 2015
