Children in South Africa Walk a Long Way to School

Children in South Africa Walk a Long Way to School

南非的孩子们要走很长的路去上学

【原文听力】

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　　By Dan Novak

　　22 November 2023

　　Fourteen-year-old Luyanda Hlali walks 10 kilometers to school. She lives in the little village of Stratford in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province.

　　There are no school buses. There is only the long road where robbers and bad men can harm her.

　　Luyanda is one of tens of thousands of children in South Africa who live a long way from their public school. The communities they live in are mostly rural and poor.

　　Observers say students having to travel long distances to public schools shows the country's inequality when it comes to attending school. It has been nearly 30 years since the nation ended its apartheid system and the African National Congress party took power bringing democratic change.

　　There is a lack of school transportation paid for by the government.

　　Girls face the threat of attack and robberies are common. Parents, local leaders, and activists say the situation increases existing inequalities. The World Bank says South Africa is the most unequal country in the world.

　　In KwaZulu-Natal, campaigners and activists are pressing government officials to provide transportation for over 200,000 schoolchildren. The children have to walk three kilometers or more to school.

　　President Cyril Ramaphosa's government policy requires officials to provide transportation for the students who have to walk that distance. But school buses are not a concern in an area where unemployment is over 25 percent and people are poor.

　　A 2020 Amnesty International report said a child's experience in South Africa "still very much depends on where they are born, how wealthy they are, and the color of their skin."

　　South Africa's education system, the report said, "has deep roots in the legacy of apartheid, but which are also not being effectively tackled" by the government.

　　In KwaZulu-Natal, more than 30 percent of the province's 12.4 million people are unemployed. Many say they have to choose between buying food or paying $19 a month for public transportation.

　　"Sometimes these children go to school without eating breakfast," said Bongiwe Nhlangothi, Luyanda's grandmother.

　　She is the most scared when her grandchildren are traveling.

　　"There are drug addicts around here, when they come across the children in the early hours of the morning, they rob them of their phones, threaten them with knives and try to rape them," Nhlangothi said.

　　A school principal in a village about 50 kilometers from the coalmining town of Dundee, told of his struggle to get more school buses approved. The principal said some of the school's female students had been raped by local criminals.

　　The school has two old buses, but they can only carry about 65 children. There are more than 400 students at the school. The principal said he fears one of the buses could permanently break down or crash.

　　In September 2022, reports said 18 students were killed in the province when their overcrowded minivan crashed on the way to school in the town of Pongola.

　　Some parents have decided to pay to have their children to live closer to their schools. But boarding a student is costly and leaves parents without help at home.

　　Activist Tebogo Tshesane works for the nonprofit organization Equal Education. He said the campaign for better school transportation across KwaZulu-Natal started back in 2014. It started after students wrote letters because they were walking for up to two hours to school.

　　Government information says 1,148 schools in KwaZulu-Natal are on a waiting list for school transportation paid for by the government.

　　The provincial department of education did not wish to talk to The Associated Press for this story.

　　The answer from the education department is that there is no money, so the children keep walking.

　　I'm Dan Novak.

　　Dan Novak adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on reporting by The Associated Press.

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　　作者：Dan Novak

　　2023年11月22日

　　14岁的Luyanda Hlali每天要走10公里去上学。她住在南非的克瓦祖鲁-纳塔尔省的一个小村庄，Stratford。

　　那里没有校车。只有漫长的道路，上面可能有强盗和坏人会伤害她。

　　Luyanda是南非成千上万的孩子们中的一员，他们住的地方离公立学校很远。他们所在的社区大多是农村，而且贫穷。

　　观察家们表示，学生们不得不长途跋涉去公立学校，这反映出该国在学校入学方面的不平等。自从该国结束了种族隔离制度，非洲国民大会党上台实现民主变革，已经近30年了。

　　政府缺乏为学校交通提供资金的支持。

　　女孩们面临着被攻击的威胁，抢劫事件也很常见。家长、当地领导和活动人士表示，这种情况加剧了已有的不平等。世界银行表示，南非是世界上最不平等的国家。

　　在克瓦祖鲁-纳塔尔，活动家和活动人士正在敦促政府官员为超过200,000名学童提供交通工具。这些孩子们必须步行三公里或更远的路程去上学。

　　塞里尔·拉马福萨总统的政府政策要求官员为那些必须步行那么远的学生提供交通工具。但在一个失业率超过25%且人民贫困的地区，校车并不是一个关注的问题。

　　2020年的国际特赦组织报告称，南非的孩子的经历“仍然很大程度上取决于他们出生的地方，他们有多富有，以及他们的肤色。”

　　报告称，南非的教育系统“深深扎根于种族隔离的遗产中，但政府并未有效地解决这些问题。”

　　在克瓦祖鲁-纳塔尔，超过30%的1240万人口失业。许多人说他们必须在购买食物和支付每月19美元的公共交通费用之间做出选择。

　　"有时候这些孩子们在没有吃早餐的情况下去上学，"Luyanda的祖母Bongiwe Nhlangothi说。

　　当她的孙子孙女在路上的时候，她最为担心。

　　"Nhlangothi说，"这里有一些吸毒者，当他们在清晨遇到孩子们的时候，他们会抢走他们的手机，用刀子威胁他们，试图强奸他们。"

　　一个村庄的学校校长，该村庄距离煤矿城镇邓迪大约50公里，他讲述了他争取更多校车批准的困难。校长说，学校的一些女学生已经被当地的罪犯强奸。

　　学校有两辆旧公交车，但它们只能载大约65个孩子。学校有超过400名学生。校长说，他担心其中一辆公交车可能会永久性地坏掉或者发生事故。

　　2022年9月，报道称，在前往Pongola镇的学校途中，他们的小型面包车因过载而发生事故，导致该省18名学生死亡。

　　一些家长决定付费让他们的孩子住得离学校更近。但是寄宿学生的费用高昂，而且家长们在家里也没有帮手。

　　活动家Tebogo Tshesane为非营利组织平等教育工作。他说，克瓦祖鲁-纳塔尔全省更好的学校交通运输的运动始于2014年。这是在学生们因为要步行长达两小时去上学而写信之后开始的。

　　政府信息显示，克瓦祖鲁-纳塔尔有1148所学校在等待政府支付的校车服务。

　　省教育部门不愿意为这个故事接受美联社的采访。

　　教育部门的回答是没有钱，所以孩子们只能继续步行。

　　我是Dan Novak。

　　Dan Novak根据美联社的报道，为VOA学习英语改编了这个故事。

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　　这个故事中的词汇

　　province — n. 省份，一个国家的大部分或划分

　　apartheid — n. 种族隔离制度，南非的这种制度在1990年代初被废除之前是合法的

　　legacy — n. 遗产，人们在去世后留给他们的孩子的东西

　　tackle –v. 应对，处理

　　addict –n. 瘾君子，无法停止吸毒的人

　　principal — n. 校长，小学或中学的领导者