It’s alleged that school pupils travelling from Rooiwal Village to Tshefoge Primary School in Vaalboschloot and Brits have not had transport and have been missing school days for quite some time. 

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But the departmental spokesperson, Elias Malindi, says the Department of Education is not responsible for the provisioning of learner transport and the department is only responsible for teaching learners when they are already at school.

The province has been battling to deal with the learner scholar transport issue for years. In 2019, then former premier, Job Mokgoro, announced that at least three criminal cases were handed over to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for prosecution in relation to the troubles experienced at the North West scholar transport system.

Malindi said learner transport is the responsibility of the Community Safety and Transport Department.

OFM News previously reported that a school bus used to ferry about 20 school pupils was destroyed by a fire in the North West over the weekend. Malindi said the bus caught fire and exploded at Unit 9 in Mmabatho near Mahikeng on Saturday 16 July 2022. Fortunately, there were no injuries reported.

ALSO READ: School bus destroyed by #fire in North West

“The North West Department of Education is pleased to welcome teachers and learners from the winter break and is ready to continue with the curriculum. Schools were on a deserved winter break while matriculants carried on with winter camps to close content gaps from the past quarter. MEC for Education in the North West, Mmaphefo Matsemela, is thankful to parents for keeping learners safe during the winter break and calls on them to release learners to school,” Malindi adds.

OFM News