The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has decided to discontinue transportation services for learners attending Gordon High School who reside in Lwandle and Nomzamo.
This decision has caused significant distress among the parents.
Concerned parents turned to DistrictMail & Helderberg Gazette, expressing their frustration over the decision which was communicated to them last Tuesday evening (22 October).
The parents of affected learners from the township were called to the Somerset West school for the meeting arranged by its management team.
The gathering aimed to address the parents’ ongoing concerns surrounding the transport issue.
Parents were informed of the WCED’s decision to discontinue the bus service to and from school as of the start of the 2025 academic year.
With less than three months remaining in the 2024 academic year, parents expressed shock and frustration over the decision, feeling they were not given adequate notice and demanding explanations.
“The department has to come to us and explain why it has cancelled the transport,” Fikile Dyasi, a parent of a Grade 10 learner at Gordon High, said. “It must not play games with the school.”
Parents claimed the decision to discontinue the service was discriminatory, as Chris Nissen Park and Sir Lowry’s Pass learners would not be affected.
Another significant concern expressed by parents is that if they cannot afford transportation to the school, they would be forced to transfer their children to schools in Lwandle and Nomzamo.
This is extremely worrying for parents of Grade 11 learners, who will be matric next year and face the prospect of adapting to a new school and new teachers.
“They know the only way is to apply is online, which is a difficult process, and what if the other schools do not have the capacity to accommodate them?” raised Buyelwa Mthakahi, a parent of a Grade 11 learner.
According to the WCED the decision was made on Thursday 10 October, after a transport-service provider had informed the department that 112 learners had been using the bus service from Lwandle and Nomzamo to Gordon High without prior approval, aside from the 54 approved learners.
The department then requested that the school make a formal application for the unapproved learners to be transported.
As part of the application process the learners would be subject to meeting the requirements of the Standard Operating Procedure for Learner Transport Schemes 2020 Section 5.
This requires the residence of the learner to be in an area that qualifies for learner transport in terms of the WCED LTS Policy.
Furthermore, the distance the learner has to walk from their residence to the nearest appropriate school is 5 km or further. However, learners may be required to walk up to 3 km to the nearest pick-up point.
The policy further states that a learner may qualify should there be no public transport available, and/or the learner does not receive a transport or boarding bursary.
“The bus committee considered the application and did not approve the application on the basis that there are available schools within the Lwandle and Nomzamo area for placement of the learners,” said a WCED spokesperson.
The department has allowed the 112 learners to continue using the service until the end of the year, to give parents time to seek alternatives.
The WCED is reviewing the committee’s decision and looking into the parents’ concerns.
Regarding the possibility of parents having to seek enrolment at schools in their residential areas, the WCED spokesperson said: “There are available spaces in schools within the learners’ local communities.”
The spokesperson advised parents looking into this option to contact the WCED district office for assistance with such applications. “The WCED cannot provide transport to all learners at their school of choice; the costs of such requests would be astronomical.”
DistrictMail & Helderberg Gazette reached out to Gordon High’s management, but was advised to engage with the WCED.
