Bhisho to revamp scholar transport programme again

01 Feb 2016 | Admin Author

Eastern Cape Transport MEC, Weziwe Tikana and Education MEC, Mandla Makupula, on Thursday held consultative talks with various municipalities on the transformation of the province's scholar transport programme.

MEC Tikana says an announcement on a new model for the scholar transport programme will be made in November.

Speaking to Algoa FM News, MEC Tikana said the programme will be run internally and will not be outsourced.

She said the engagement with municipalities was to compile a verifiable list of schools and learners who will be participating in the scholar transport programme.

"From mid November up until month end, we will be finalising the list. We will engage with district consultations to finalise the list and the list of members. We believe due to the developement which have taken place, more schools being built, the number of learners might be reduced" says Tikana.

Meanwhile, Education MEC, Mandla Makupula, says in terms of the transformation of the scholar transport programme the only vehicles mentioned in the policy are busses and mini-buses.

He says there's no mention of the use of bakkies to transport learners to schools.

MEC Makupula says it is such that service providers, particularly in deep rural areas, take advantage of the situation where monitoring of the scholar transport progamme may not be that strong.

He says its a challenge for the Department to get the buy-in of communities to take a firm stand on this issue, adding that once communities are informed of the scholar transport policy, they should assist government in monitoring its effectiveness.

"Don't allow your child to get into a bakkie that is not road worthy and wait for the department to report the problem, when everyday its happening infront of you. When that bakkie falls, it's your child that's going to die. It's a pain on government, one life lost is too many lives. We hope by strengthening partnerships such incidents will be reduced."