President Cyril Ramaphosa says the deaths of 12 pupils in a crash in Vanderbijlpark, south of Joburg, on Monday morning highlighted the urgent need for collective action to ensure scholar transport is safe and reliable. Speaking at the basic education lekgotla at the Birchwood Hotel and Conference Centre in Ekurhuleni, Ramaphosa said the country could not accept a situation where young lives are at risk when travelling to school. “We cannot let this tragedy pass.
We need to act now and we need to act together to ensure that scholar transport is safe and reliable,” he said. On the same morning Ramaphosa was speaking about the tragedy, a Limpopo scholar transport driver who had allegedly overloaded his seven-seater vehicle with 22 pupils abandoned his vehicle and fled when he saw traffic officers. We urge parents, drivers and operators to take responsibility for the safety of our children and passengers The department of transport and community safety in Limpopo said it was appalled by the driver’s “reckless behavior” as he put children’s lives at risk.
“The driver abandoned the vehicle and fled the scene upon noticing traffic enforcement. This incident is a stark reminder of the importance of prioritising road safety, especially when transporting learners. Overloading is not only a serious offense but also a recipe for disaster.
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“We urge parents, drivers and operators to take responsibility for the safety of our children and passengers.” Ramaphosa touched on education outcomes, saying as a country the commitment to a resilient and capable education system must begin where it matters most, which is in the early grades, where the foundations are laid. He said strengthening early grade reading and numeracy was a national priority. “When children have not learnt to read for meaning or to work confidently with numbers by the end of the foundation phase, the cost is borne by the entire education system. “Unless we get it right at the outset, learners spend the rest of their school careers trying to catch up,” he said.
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