By Alicia Mmashakana
The North West’s transport and education committees have expressed complete discontent with the unacceptable state of the province’s scholar transport.
This emerged after numerous complaints and a recent oversight visit by both committees, which inspected the state of scholar transport operations in the Dr. Kenneth Kaunda District.
Safety and transport management chairperson Freddy Sonakile said: “The department’s failure to provide scholar transport to learners who need [it] is a deprivation of their right to education and must never be tolerated.”
A joint oversight meeting was held on Thursday, during which the community safety and transport management and the education department were held accountable for the province’s unacceptable state of scholar transportation.
The departments made presentations on the situation where the joint committees issued firm recommendations, demanding immediate action.
“The department should conduct unannounced roadworthy tests for all scholar transport service providers between now and December throughout the province and must launch a full investigation into the possibility that some service providers fraudulently passed the verification process,” Sonakile said.
He said that a meeting with all unpaid service providers must be held within two weeks, and all outstanding payments must be expedited where services have been provided.
Sonakile added that following the committees’ investigations, which revealed negligence and serious risks to learners’ safety, an electronic monitoring system should be in place and operational by January 2025.
Non-compliant buses operating at Mampho Secondary, Kromellenboog Combined, Botoka Secondary, Resolofetse Secondary, Phakedi Primary, Letlhasedi Combined and Reabona Primary schools must be revoked immediately.
The committees also conceded that the education department should conduct an urgent study to locate the 9045 students who were not part of the scholar transport across the province.
“The study must include the affected schools, identify whether these students are still attending and whether they have dropped out, and assess the full impact.
“They must also submit a detailed report on the 21 learners of Phakedi Primary School who last attended school in March 2023 due to a lack of scholar transport after the previous service provider’s contract expired,” Sonakile said.
The committee has referred the matter to the SA Human Rights Commission for investigation given that it suspects it was a clear violation of the learners’ right to education.
“We call for a zero-tolerance approach toward those who are putting children at risk. The rights of learners are non-negotiable and must be safeguarded at all costs,” he said.
INSIDE EDUCATION
