GOOD Speech by Brett Herron ,
GOOD Secretary-General & Member of the Western Cape Parliament
21 November 2024
Note to editor: This speech was delivered during today’s sitting of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament
I rise on behalf of 378 children from Ceres – between 7 and 13-years-old – who recently received letters informing them that they no longer qualified for free learner transport.
For children living in Vredebes, a community primarily consisting of RDP housing, what this means is having to walk the 9.6 km to get to school and back each day.
They don’t just walk; they risk life and limb, navigating ganglands and crossing highways, because their homes fall 200m short of the five-kilometre distance required to qualify for learner transport.
The National Learner Transport Policy excludes children living within 5km of their schools.
There’s very little that worried Vredebes parents can do about it.
Schools which are closer to home are already overcrowded, and paying up to R490 a month for private transport is unaffordable, so their children must take their chances on the road.
To compound the injustice, as they walk the children are passed by busses with empty seats that, instead of affording them safety, will drive right past them.
Cancelling their bus rides perpetuates inequality, creating barriers to education for working-class families and compromising the safety of young learners.
It seems obvious that children shouldn’t be forced to undertake hazardous journeys to get to and from school when there’s a ready solution – unoccupied seats on busses – within easy reach.
But not obvious enough for civil servants…
We call on the provincial government to urgently re-evaluate these bus routes and the withdrawal of services from these children.
The rule about having to live at least five kilometres from school to qualify for free transport is arbitrary and too rigidly applied.
Let common sense and leadership prevail.
Education policies must prioritize the safety, dignity, and right to education of all children. None should be left behind.
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