LEARNER TRANSPORT – WHO IS RESPONSIBLE

(FINANCIALLY AND SOCIALLY) : AN INDUSTRY VIEW)

MR CHAIRMAN, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN

1. INTRODUCTION

Numerous issues impinge upon the provision of transport for

learners In South Africa. For purposes of my presentation, I

have identified four main areas which need to be addressed.

These areas are as follows:

1.1 Overall responsibility and accountability for determining a

policy for learner transport

1.2 The question of whether financial assistance should be

provided for transporting learners to and from school and,

if so, what criteria should govern the rendering of such

assistance.

1.3 The manner and cost effectiveness in which learner

transport is provided.

1.4 Other issues affecting learner transport.

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 Before addressing these four areas, it is necessary to first

provide some background on learner transport and the manner

it was dealt with prior to and since the establishment of the

democratic dispensation in South Africa in 1994.

2. BACKGROUND

The transportation of learners has been a controversial issue

for many years. In the previous dispensation thirteen separate

education departments existed for different population groups,

each with its own “policy” for the transportation of learners. On

the one hand, the general view of these education authorities

was that they had no statutory obligation to transport learners to

and from school whilst on the other hand the Department of

Transport advised that in terms of the Road Transportation Act

(Act 74 of 1977), learner transport was not defined as public

transport and therefore they too did not have any statutory

obligation towards learner transport. As a result of this

fragmented approach and the unwillingness of the government

of the day to accept its responsibility for learner transport many

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 children were deprived of the opportunity to receive an

education.

After the election of the Government of National Unity in 1994,

SABOA increased its efforts in an attempt to address learner

transport. The following are some of the results of actions

which were introduced by SABOA:

• Through SABOA’s efforts an Interdepartmental Committee on

learner transport was established in 1995 between the

Department of Transport and of Education to investigate the

subsidisation of learners. Unfortunately, after Minister

Maharaj’s retirement, the initiative lost momentum.

• Through SABOA’s interaction with the Department of Education

an amount of R50 million was allocated to provincial

departments of education for learner transport in the 1996/97

financial year. In the majority of cases, the allocated funds

were however not used for learner transport.

• The National Land Transport Transition Act (Act 22 of 2000)

recognises learner transport as a public transport service for

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 which an Operating Licence is required. This became a legal

requirement from 1 July 2001.

A number of measures have also been introduced by

government which emphasise the higher priority that is given to

education:

• The Bill of Rights in the RSA Constitution addresses

education, inter alia, as follows:

“Everyone has the right -

(a) to a basic education, including adult basic education

; and

(b) to further education, which the state, through

reasonable measures, must make

progressively available and accessible.”

• The South African Schools Act (Act 84 of 1996) provides

for compulsory attendance of learners between the ages of seven

and fifteen years.

• A number of Back to School campaigns were introduced

since 1994 to encourage children to attend school in larger numbers.

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 SABOA fully supports the greater emphasis which government

has placed on the provision of quality education for learners

although it created operational and financial difficulties for the

industry. These difficulties mainly relate to the fact that learners

have to be transported in the morning peak when commuters

are being transported and the fact that they are being

transported at a reduced rate.

3. OVERALL RESPONSIBILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR

DETERMINING A POLICY FOR LEARNER TRANSPORT

Mr Chairman, the first question which must be addressed

regarding learner transport is that of overall responsibility and

accountability i.e whether it is a Department of Education or

Department of Transport function. It is also necessary to

consider the relative roles of national and provincial

departments of education and of transport in providing or

arranging learner transport.

Important implications of this question concern financial

responsibility and political accountability. As a first step

government needs to acknowledge and accept the

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responsibility for learner transport in South Africa and decide

whether the provision and funding of learner transport should

make claims on education funds or on transport funds and

which department is answerable to the public.

In South Africa with its recent history of apartheid there is little

doubt that for years to come, government will have to play a

leading role in terms of the funding of public transport in general

and learner transport in particular.

SABOA is aware of the fact that the Department of Education

has appointed consultants to compile a status quo report on

learner transport in all provinces and to make recommendations

to the Department of Education regarding guidelines for learner

transport.

SABOA fully supports this initiative and wishes to encourage

the Department of Education to conclude the research as soon

as possible. SABOA would also like to invite the Department of

Education to draw on the expertise of the industry to assist the

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 Department in developing policy guidelines for the learner

transport industry in South Africa.

4. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR LEARNER TRANSPORT

AND THE CRITERIA GOVERNING SUCH ASSISTANCE

The second area which needs to be addressed once

responsibility for learner transport has been established is

whether the Department of Education or Department of

Transport should contribute financially towards the cost of

transporting learners between home and school. The need to

consider this question mainly stems from the fact that

attendance at schools is compulsory for children between 7 and

15 years of age. Other factors that also play a role in this

regard are, inter alia, the following:

• A subsidised learner transport system will ensure that the

mobility needs of learners are catered for.

• A subsidised learner transport system will provide

opportunities to children who, for various reasons, are not attending

school to be able to attend school.

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• The youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow. A

subsidised learner transport system will make a significant

contribution in developing such leaders.

• Accessibility of the education system becomes

meaningless if children are not able to get to school. A subsidised

learner transport system will provide credibility to accessibility.

• The safety of children in our society is a high priority for

government and through a subsidised learner transport system this

priority will be enhanced.

• Promoting public transport is one of the focus areas of

government’s public transport policy. Teaching children from a young

age to support public transport will go a long way in ensuring that

they continue to make use of public transport as adults.

In fulfilling the basic right of allowing all children in South Africa

equal access to quality education, government needs to decide

to what extent it is prepared to fund the transportation of

learners between home an school. The providing of financial

assistance in this regard can be guided by criteria falling into

two broad categories. Firstly, the circumstances of the journey

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itself and secondly, the circumstances of the child who

undertakes the journey.

The most relevant criteria pertaining to the circumstances of the

journey are the distance of the journey to school and the safety

and difficulty of that journey.

Although not the only criterion, the distance traveled to school

is a very important factor. It should, however be applied with

circumspection as there could be charges of unfairness being

lodged by parents. For instance, parents whose children attend

the same school may live close to each other, but one family

may live just inside the distance from school required to receive

financial assistance whilst another family may live just beyond

the required distance and their child would thus not be entitled

to receive assistance. This situation could lead to resentment

amongst parents receiving no assistance.

The dangers, especially to small children, from traffic or from

assault on lonely journeys are factors which should be

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seriously considered by government. The volume and speed of

traffic on the roads have increased enormously over the past

few years. In rural areas children walk long distances to school

and in many instances they have to cross main roads, whilst in

urban areas traffic hazards are much worse.

Conditions of the journey for walking to school is another factor

to be assessed by government. Sometimes the route to and

from school may involve more arduous walking than might be

reasonably expected, especially of young children. For

instance in rural areas children may have to climb steep hills,

cross uneven terrain or be severely exposed to dangerous

weather conditions.

Criteria to be taken into account when considering the

circumstances of the child include, inter alia, the health of the

child, physical and mental condition of the child, and the

financial circumstances of the parents.

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Other factors which should be considered in relation to the

journey to be covered include the child’s age, physical size,

maturity, experience in coping with traffic and the feasibility of

the child being accompanied to and from school.

Rapidly increasing costs of transport can give rise to substantial

burdens on families, especially when there are several children

of school going age in the family and when other costs

associated with attending school are considered. The financial

circumstances of learner’s parents should thus be a criterion in

assessing the need for financial assistance with the provision of

transport.

Mr Chairman, some of the criteria I mentioned, lend

themselves more readily to precise assessment than others.

The criterion of distance is easily and objectively measurable

and could be used by government as a means for deciding

whether to assist learners with their transport to and from

school. The financial circumstances of families are also

objectively measurable. Safety, a aspect which often gives rise

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 to parent’s greatest anxieties, depends on aspects such as the

child’s age and experience with traffic, the journey (flow and

type of traffic and availability of pedestrian facilities) and the

child’s family (the parent’s ability to accompany the child or to

pay for a safe form of transport). The latter criterion is not easy

to measure. Furthermore, where there is a road hazard close to

a school and a safe route over the rest of the journey to a

child’s home, it would be difficult to reach judgement on the

safety of the journey as a whole. It is evident, therefore, that

safety often bears no relation to the distance of the journey.

5. COST EFFECTIVE PROVISION OF LEARNER TRANSPORT

The third aspect to be considered in the formulation of a policy

for learner transport (i.e after the responsibility for and the

nature and criteria governing any assistance for learner

transport have been resolved) is that of the provision of any

requested transport in a cost effective manner. The two main

issues which require attention in this area are the options

available with regard to the physical provision of transport and

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the method to use in allocating and administering any financial

assistance (i.e subsidy).

With regard to the physical provision of transport, government

could consider a number of options. Firstly, it should examine

the existing public transport network in order to ascertain

whether or not a request for learner transport can be

accommodated through the use of existing public transport

services.

This step should include liaison with local transport

undertakings to establish whether services could be adjusted in

any way, at little or no extra cost, in order to fulfill a request for

learner transport.

As a second step, if existing public transport services cannot

accommodate a request for learner transport, government can

consider entering into a contract with an undertaking to

provide the necessary transport. Such contracts are normally

secured by issuing a tender notice for the service to be

provided. The education authority can then decide which

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tender to accept on the grounds it considers most important

(usually cost, safety and reliability).

Our experience of the contract system that is currently being

used by, for instance, the Gauteng Department of Education is

that it is not a price tender. The rate of remuneration for the

service rendered is fixed at, say, 20 cents per learner per

kilometer. The purpose of the tender which has been issued is

merely to select the operator in terms of a preference points

system.

One of the disadvantages of applying a fixed rate in a tender is

that it could be either too low or too high. If the rate is

inadequate, it could have a major impact on the operator’s

ability to render an efficient, safe and reliable service. This is

currently the position in Gauteng, Mpumalanga and the

Western Cape and we wish to appeal to these provincial

education authorities to ensure that the rate that is being paid to

operators, is in fact a rate that will enable operators to render

an efficient, safe and reliable service. If, on the other hand, an

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 unrealistic high rate is paid, it means that less funds will be

available to subsidise learner transport in general. It is,

therefore, essential that the rate is set at the right level.

Mr Chairman, SABOA would like to invite the education

authorities to call on SABOA for any assistance they may need

in this regard.

6. OTHER POLICY AFFECTING SCHOLAR TRANSPORT

When devising a policy for learner transport, it is also

necessary to examine other policy issues affecting both

education and transport and their relationship with each other.

With regard to education, issues worthy of attention are the

sitting of schools, zoning versus parental choice of school and

the fixing of school hours.

The sitting of new schools clearly has a very important effect on

the need for learner transport and it is an area where education

considerations may come into conflict with the efficient use of

transport resources. It is thus necessary to evaluate the

transport implications with regard to the sitting of new schools

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particularly in rural areas, where catchment areas may be wider

than in urban areas and where the availability of public

transport is often less.

Parental choice of school is also an issue which impacts on

learner transport. The reality is that parents are not always

sending their children to the nearest school. Some parents

have chosen to move their children from their local school to a

school in another area because of, inter alia, unrest, subject

choices, better trained teachers etc. There will have to be a

policy decision from government as to how to deal with this

reality in a subsidy scenario.

A final education issue which is important with regard to learner

transport is that of the fixing of school hours. This is essentially

a transport related issue but one that depends almost entirely

on the decision of education authorities. A slight adjustment, to

the starting and finishing times of some schools could reduce

the number of buses needed to cope with the required demand.

This is particularly true of school starting times in urban areas

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 which often coincide with the commuter demand for public

transport in the morning peak. Possibilities with regard to the

staggering of school hours should obviously be explored by

government.

7. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Mr Chairman, the problems encountered with learner transport

as outlined in my presentation, are the result of a lack of a

coherent national policy for this sector. These problems and

the growth in the numbers of children attending school require

that a workable and acceptable national policy be devised.

Such a policy should ideally encompass all parts of South

Africa.

Having identified some of the main difficulties associated with

learner transport, SABOA wishes to propose the following to

government:

1) To accept its financial and social responsibility for learner

transport and to allocate the responsibility and

accountability to either the Department of Education or

Department of Transport.

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 2) To decide whether financial assistance should be given in

transporting learners to and from school and if so, to draft

a national policy for learner transport which can be used

by provinces.

3) To involve the industry in the policy formulation process.

I thank you.

Mr Eric Cornelius’ Speech – Scholar Transport

LN: Eric’s speech on scholar transport

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