| Summary: | The journey to school for a significant number of South African learners is
characterised by long travel times, unsafe modes of travel and exposure to weather
and traffic related dangers. A review of the literature suggests that poor access to
schools impedes both the accumulation of human capital and the right to a basic
education. This research, conducted in a peri-urban municipal district near Durban,
KwaZulu-Natal, is an impact evaluation of an existing school transport intervention.
The intervention consists of an arrangement between a school in the llembe District
and several locally managed transport providers. The intervention has two parts: first,
school officials have negotiated a reduced taxi fare for learners travelling to and from
the school and, second, the school has arranged for the local bus company to
synchronise its schedule with the start and finish of school each day. The overall
objective of the intervention is to reduce the travel times and walking distances of the
learners attending the school.
The approach of the study is to employ an appropriate evaluation methodology
to assess the intervention and to interpret the findings in a rights based context. Impact
evaluation is a rigorous methodology that aims to reliably test the effectiveness of
interventions, policies and programmes. The findings from the study suggest that, if
"scaled up", a similar intervention could potentially improve travel times, reduce
excessive walking distances, improve the safety of travel to schools and curb the rates
of absenteeism in the nation's schools. The study, however, also uncovers several
impediments to the implementation of such an intervention within the existing policy
environment. === Thesis (M.Dev.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.
|
|---|
