Many rural schools in the Eastern Cape rely heavily on transportation to run properly, and in the case of Shaw Park Combined School, the mismanagement of transport funds threatens the school’s survival.
Many rural schools in the Eastern Cape rely heavily on transportation to run properly, and in the case of Shaw Park Combined School, the mismanagement of transport funds threatens the school’s survival.
For the past three years, Shaw Park has depended on government funded bus transport for learners who come from farmlands further than 3km from the school.
Previously, children would arrive in dribs and drabs, making teaching difficult for the already overworked teachers.
According to the school’s principal, Andre Laas, the bus driver uses his own vehicle to transport roughly 105 children every day at a price of R19 a child, totalling almost R2 000 a day.
“He makes a fortune,” Laas said. Or at least, he would. The government has not paid him since January and Laas fears the driver may soon refuse to do his job.
Laas added that some of the money provided by the government for transport could be better used by the school, which, like most rural schools, is sorely under-equipped and under-staffed.
Until 2005, the school charged R20 a year for learners, many of whom could not pay. For the past five years the school has run on a no-fees basis, with funding coming from the Department of Education (DoE).
Catering for 195 learners in Grades one to 12 with only nine educators adds to the school’s headaches. Maintenance is also difficult without adequate funding, as some of the school’s buildings have fallen into disrepair.
It does not have a library, but fortunately funds provided by the DoE have supplied it with furniture, teaching aids and textbooks.
“We would love laptops for the educators and overhead projectors,” said Laas. The children have had no computers since they were stolen two years ago.
Since then, the school has installed burglar bars and employed a fulltime security guard. Another challenge the school faces is the illiteracy of the learners’ parents.
“We get no feedback from parents,” Laas said, adding that some parents would like their children to follow in their footsteps as labourers.
Currently there are only five Grade 12 learners, as many Grade 11 learners fail. The school, which began around the late 1800s, is relatively well stocked and organised compared to many other rural schools in the area.
Laas said the success of the school lies both in the transport, which many now-defunct schools did not have, and the strict discipline upheld by the teaching staff.
