School tackles transport challenges – buys second bus

Masiyephambili College in Bulawayo on Tuesday took delivery of a 36-seater bus worth US$77 000 following contributions by parents through a bus levy.

The bus, a second purchase in just 13 months after the first one, a 67-seater which was bought 24 years after the school opened its doors, is expected to improve the school’s transportation services and learner welfare.

The college agreed with parents to implement an US$80 per child bus levy in 2022, leading to the procurement of the buses.

Speaking during the bus commissioning ceremony, Masiyephambili College head Dr Khesiwe Phuthi expressed gratitude for the parents’ efforts in enabling the purchase of another bus shortly after acquiring the first one.

“I would like to firstly appreciate the parents of Masiyephambili College for prioritising their children’s welfare and enhancing the school’s esteemed reputation. This bus is our second-ever bus to be bought by Masiyephambili College. Our first bus, which we received last year, broke the 24-year cycle of operating without our own bus as a school. This signifies growth and is a tremendous achievement for us, considering that other schools often take more than 30 years to procure a single bus, whereas we have managed to purchase two within 13 months,” said Dr Phuthi.

She said the newly commissioned bus would assist the school with daily transportation of students and transporting teams to sports events.

“The bus is a great enabler. It will greatly ease the challenge of having more trips during school runs. Our two buses will now be departing from City Hall at around 6.45AM and returning around 4.15PM, ensuring all children using the bus for the school run are transported to and from school on time,” said Dr Phuthi.

“We don’t want our children in public transport because we will not be able to instil discipline in them. Small teams, for instance, a netball team of 15 girls, will now use the small bus for sports trips. Field trips for learning purposes will now be easier to conduct because we have our own means of transport,” she added.

Dr Phuthi said it was costly for the school to hire transport whenever the need arose.

She shared the complications of not having an identity as an Association of Trust School (ATS), in operating with hired transport during school events.

Masiyephambili College Parents Teachers Association (PTA) chairman Mr Ngqabutho Ndebele said the biggest gap in the school’s strategic plan requiring urgent attention was the transport sector of the school.

“As Masiyephambili College, we have a strategic plan which we follow, and in our plan, as parents, we deliberated that there is a need for us to secure the transport sector first. This decision came about when we saw that our learners who come from distant areas were suffering as they were not getting transport to and from school on time. Having buses will also assist our learners during trips and for sports,” said Mr Ndebele.

He appreciated the co-operative spirit shown by parents in paying the independent fees allocated for purchasing the school buses.

Mr Ndebele applauded the efforts of the Board of Trustees who intervened when the school was short of the US$176 000 required to complete payment for the first bus.