The lament of a schoolgirl

SIKI MOTSHWARI JOHANNES
AND
RYDER GABATHUSE | Friday June 27, 2008 00:00

Despite her tender age, already she has seen it all. Sibusiso, a Form Two student, is confronted with the challenges of schooling in a rural area. Her school, Maenjani Junior Secondary School, is situated outside her own village some 10km away. Kalakamati is a typical rural settlement, which does not enjoy the convenience of public transport. For the entire duration of junior secondary school course, students, especially from poverty stricken backgrounds, are literally condemned to a 'life' walking the 20km distance to and from school.

Just like any other Motswana child, Sibusiso dreams of completing her Junior Certificate (JC) studies to qualify for a senior secondary place. Unlike her counterparts elsewhere in the country, schooling is a real ordeal. The biggest challenge confronting her is not the difficulty of the curriculum but negotiating and walking a distance of 20km to and from school on a sandy, dusty road. Worse, hers is a journey full of hazards. There is danger everywhere.  The thick forest on the way seems to harbour hazards of all kinds.

'The thought and experience of walking through the thickets always sends shivers down my spine,' she says. Being a girl child, she is fearful of falling into the hands of rapists. She reckons walking through the thickets is like wandering dangerously into a lion's park where the possibility of being gored by vicious animals looms large.

Walking to school exposes her to the harsh conditions of weather. There is the sizzling summer time she has to contend with.  For the entire journey she is exposed to the unkind scorching African sun that roasts her fragile little  body. Upon arrival at school she is too fatigued to start work. With all the sweat dripping from her body and the stench that goes with it, she feels uncomfortable in class when sitting next to other students who are fresh.Her worst moments, however, come with the winter season.  If she had a way of tampering with nature, she could be erasing the winter season from the 'calendar' or better still, swiftly switch to the summer season, which is a lesser evil. She would rather have her body roasted by the sun than frozen by winter.

Without regard for the predicament of a desperate young schoolgirl the winter season will stubbornly run its usual course and she knows this reality far too well.

When the cock crows, Sibusiso knows that it is time to wake up to prepare for school. In this particular chilly cold weather waking up at 3 o'clock in the morning is something else. But what choice does she have?Whereas her counterparts elsewhere have the luxury of waking up two hours later only to press a hot water button for a decent bath, she has to make a fire if she is to enjoy a hot and decent bath.  By 5 am she is ready to hit the road. By the time she reaches school, her little fingers are frozen to the extent of being unable to hold a pen. But all the same she is expected to immediately put her troubles behind her and perform her school chores just like any other child. Asked how she is coping with the situation, she says, 'We are used to this; for us this is a way of life. Our elder brothers and sisters have gone through the same odyssey but lived to tell the tale.'Talk of accepting one's fate as a permanent life station! She is perhaps too young and nave to realise that her predicament is a consequence of some human error - in this case failure to equalise opportunities in education.

It is quite soothing to notice that, despite her ordeal, she remains indefatigable in her quest for education. But how many children have the nerve of steel that she has? Her wish is for the powers that be to take her plight into consideration. Two things she is asking for.Either transport is provided or hostels are built to accommodate students from outside.  The Kalakamati child is not alone in this predicament. There is another forlorn cry from a child at Toteng, Botalaote, Mbalambi and Letsholathebe facing similar circumstances.

The list is endless.
The picture of these children hitchhiking from any passing motor vehicle in the morning and after school is a clear testimony that walking to school everyday has no comfort attached to it. They normally see figures of worried souls along the length of the road sweating their way to school. 'How are these children expected to cope with the rigorous school curriculum if they have to contend with the daunting task of walking such a long distance?' wonders a concerned parent speaking on condition of anonymity.

Parents in the North East are aware of the predicament of their children, especially those who cannot afford to rent accommodation for their children near their schools, let alone pay bus fare everyday to relieve their children of the 'marathon' they endure everyday and the hazards they are exposed to.Listening to some North East parents re-living their experiences, it is apparent that the District is still living in the past.

 'We used to travel from the lands outside Zwenshambe to school and that was a total distance of about six kilometers, to and from school,' reminisces Dr. Badziyili Nfila, a public lecturer at the University of Botswana Center for Continuing Education in Francistown.He adds: 'It was tough for us as we often developed blisters on our way as a majority walked to school barefooted. Worse, we were beaten thoroughly for late coming which was common during winter.'Although the educationist is yet to conduct research on the impact on learning of walking long distance to school, he acknowledges that this might have a negative impact.'Students mostly are preoccupied with their troubles of walking to school as opposed to concentrating on the challenges of the core business. It's a fact that by the time children arrive home, they are tired and would, in most cases, have no more energy reserved to study or do their homework.'

Several  decades ago, a village elder, Peter Woto of Zwenshambe, said they endured about eight kilometers to and from school. The advantage, he says, was that during their time they were a bit more mature as they started primary school at the late age of about 11 years or more. He is worried that his grandchildren are facing the troubles they endured some 60 years or more ago.

'Today, unlike pre-independence, there are so many risks that our children are exposed to. We are no longer living in the past and I can only appeal to the powers that be to provide hostel facilities in villages where schools are far away,' lamented the 71-year-old Woto.But, listening to Masunga village civic leader, Ronald Zwinila, you see a clearer picture of the odds stacked against the young pupils and students. 'Our children walk about 16 km to and from Letsholathebeto Masunga, about 10 km to and from Mosojane, and 14 km to and from Vukwi, to sample but a few. You can't claim there is nothing wrong with this distance,' declares Zwinila worriedly.

As a response to this reality, the villagers have put their heads together to solve their problems through the Parents Teachers Association (PTA). They could not wait for the government's National Development Plan (NDP) or the District Development Plan to deliver the expected.'The concerned villages made pledges to fund the construction of hostels to accommodate both male and female students who live outside Masunga. Mosojane has pledged P50, 000, Masunga P20, 000, Vukwi P15, 000 and Letsholathebe P10, 000,' reveals councillor Zwinila.

The hostel, whose construction is ongoing, is right within the premises of Maruje Junior Secondary School.Chairperson of Maruje JSS, Budzani Laba, beams with hope that the frustration of their children traveling long distances will soon be a thing of the past. The hostel project, she reveals, is about 95 percent complete.'A block of girls' hostels with about three demarcated dormitories is completed. We have deliberately started with a girls hostel because the girl child is more vulnerable than the male counterparts,' says Laba.

She credits Skills Share Botswana to have donated P25, 000 towards the construction of the hostel and wished other potential donors could come forth and donate. The Matron's block was constructed through the generous contribution from the Permanent Secretary to the President, Eric Molale's office. The office had pledged P200, 000 for the construction work.'We appeal to any potential donor to help Batswana children from walking long distances in search of education,' she pleaded.

The first decade or so after attainment of independence, walking (even barefooted) to school was a normal way of life. There was no cause for complaint. Who could complain about this when the country was going through a rough patch and poverty written all over?  Now, 42 years after independence, is too long a time in the life of a nation.
Today there is cause for complaint if little Sibusiso is allowed to live the same life that her forefathers lived. Significant strides have been made in various spheres of life, including the education front.  Sibusiso is a beneficiary of progress that has been made in education in so far as access is concerned. She is only a victim of lack of equity in education.

Surely the country is not as poor as it was some 40 years ago. Our dream of realising an educated and informed nation shall become a mirage unless something drastic is done to cater for the likes of Sibusiso.