This essay is anchored on the assumption that the government of Botswana recognizes the value of education and is fully committed to support learners to attend school. Such recognition and commitment inherently places a premium on increased access to schooling which of course became a major priority of the government. Measures to expedite access to schooling included, abolition of school fees from primary to tertiary institutions, introducing school feeding program and the provision of more school facilities to keep up with the increasing numbers of learners. While a lot has been achieved in terms of providing educational facilities, many learners still live outside walking distance from school.
The 1993 Report of the National Commission on Education popularly known as the Kedikilwe Commission, states that children who live outside walking distance from school tend to stay away from school while those who choose to persevere attend school sporadically. Research has also shown that children who walk long distances to and from school are likely to perform poorly because many arrive at school already exhausted. Typical with poor households, many such school children would have left home without a meal and by the time they reach school, they are hungry and disoriented which means learning becomes impossible because such children could barely concentrate.
These findings suggest the need to provide educational facilities within reasonable walking distance from the learner’s place of residence. In effect, admission into schools has often been influenced by the learner’s place of residence such that learners were favoured to enrol in schools within their homes. However, Botswana’s rapid population growth places increasing stress on the need to acquire additional schools, which means that the construction of new schools has been outpaced by increasing numbers of learners. Additionally, the limited resources are stretched by scattered settlements each in need of a school facility. In consequence, while a learner’s home has to be taken into account for enrolment purposes, such consideration has become peripheral due to realities on ground. As a result, learners find themselves enrolling in public schools considerably far from their homes. Often they would have no choice because enrolment spaces in schools in their vicinity would have been filled up.
In remote areas, some learners may walk a total distance of roughly 30kms every weekday. In 2014, Mmegi online of May 16 carried a story titled ‘the long walk to school for Ntondola children’ which revealed that children living in the area walk to schools in Sebina and Nshakazhongwe villages located about 15km away. This is a common challenge in most rural settlements. In urban centres and major villages, the situation is much better since school children walk shorter distances. In other instances where the distance from home to school is considerably long, parents or guardians give their children some money for minibus fare or use family vehicles to transport children. Thus, it has always been the responsibility of parents/guardians to make travel arrangements for their children to attend school. Many parents have done and continue to do a commendable job in the face of dwindling incomes and have to be encouraged to continue doing so as a contribution to the education of their children.
However, with frequent increases in taxi/combi fares in the face of declining personal incomes, persistent droughts, high levels of unemployment and so forth, school transport expenses are beginning to ruin many households and by extension compromise the education of children. It is noted that government’s commitment to ensuring that children access schooling by way of abolishing school fees and introducing the school feeding program is laudable. Yet getting to school is every child’s nightmare with the potential to compromise the collectivity of government’s efforts in ensuring universal access to schooling. In one instance, the costs of transporting children to and from school are becoming prohibitive and impoverishing many families. In the long run such families could fail to raise taxi fares for their children forcing these school children to walk long distances to and from school or instantly drop out of school. In other instances, children walk frighteningly long distances to and from school which negatively affect their studies as well as endanger their lives. The challenge of this morning and afternoon commute vary according to seasons. In summer school children have to brave rains, rainstorms, flooded streams and heat waves. In winter, they have to contend with chilly weathers, some walking bare footed and sparsely dressed.
Assuming that the Government of Botswana recognizes the value of education, there is a dire need for the state to intervene in the transportation of children to and from schools. Precisely, the Government of Botswana is implored to introduce a small transport subsidy for unemployed learners (at primary, secondary & tertiary) to defray transport expenses and promote access to schooling. Every year school bus operators and ‘pirate’ taxis increase their fares ostensibly to cover operation costs. Without increasing taxi/combi fares school bus operators would certainly make losses that could ultimately force them out of business leaving learners to their own devices. Thus, school bus operators cannot be faulted for increasing bus fares on an annual basis.
The proposed transport subsidies will help learners travel to and from school much more conveniently and safely thus making their learning enjoyable, pleasant and rewarding the result of which would be improved commitment and motivation for learning, punctuality and improved learners’ performance. This assistance will also free parents/guardians from the hassles of dropping children off in the morning and getting at work late and again leaving the workplace earlier to collect the children all which compromises productivity. This assistance should not be misconstrued as an attempt to exclude parents from the education of their children but rather to help parents/guardians meet their obligation of ensuring that children are enrolled and most importantly attend school.
Whereas it is acknowledged that government revenues are shaky, there are some generously funded government projects or programs which do not add value to the economy and could conveniently be made to make way for the proposed school transportation assistance allowance or scheme to enable the government to reach out to learners in some special way while at the same time rescuing parents/guardians from financial ruin occasioned partly by costs associated with transporting children to school. Such projects could include the Constituency League; purchase of radio sets, and so forth. Aristotle said that, ‘the roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet’. Parents/guardians have had it tough in supporting their children to get an education and learners have really suffered in their endeavour to get an education. Many learners brave inclement weather, serial rapists, murderers and petty thieves to get to school and back home.
This emotional plea to the Government of Botswana to reach out to learners in order to promote a culture of schooling is faithfully registered on the behalf of many voiceless parents, guardians and learners.
