Opinion: Transport in Kigali mostly challenges students

Kigali has been growing at a high speed and the level of cleanliness and infrastructural development in the city is a wonder to many, but one thing has remained a serious problem: ‘Public Transport’.

Transportation in this beautiful city especially during peak hours has become a nightmare lately.

A walk around the city during evening hours shows long queues of people waiting for buses, and this is on all stages and bus terminals in the city and the out skirts.

This problem has been discussed by different levels to seek for a permanent solution, but it has persisted.

Some of the solutions which were sought out by the Rwanda Regulatory Agency (RURA) and Kigali City included organizing transport companies into cluster to reduce the chaos in the city transport system, and they bought additional cars, but still it leaves a lot to be desired.

However, the major victims in the whole city transport fracas which I want to focus on are the students who have to use these buses to and from school every day under these circumstances.

Students are always seen at road sides waiting for buses to take them home together with other passengers. This is a serious problem due to different factors.

The transport problem as it is now affects these students in all dimensions including performance in school, discipline and their own security.

Most schools in the city close at 4:30 pm, but you will be surprised to find students still at the road sides waiting for buses at 8:00 pm and beyond.

These students compared to their colleagues in boarding sections, theirs is a life of struggle that is likely to greatly affect their grades.

The two leave classes at the same time. Unlike those who go back to their homes, boarding students are ready for their preparation studies by 8:00pm after doing sports and other activities.

On the  other hand, the day scholars are still waiting for buses and  will reach home very tired around 9:00pm(depending on where everyone lives), and all they will be thinking is going to bed. These two groups of students will never perform the same way.

Performance aside, the other main problem is discipline. The delay at road sides may cause different problems to the young people especially the girls.

The possibility of them being picked by unknown people with cars promising them a ride home is very high. Not all the men that do that have good intentions for the girls and leave the discipline of the girls to hang in balance.

The delay at the road sides may also be an excuse for the students to do whatever they want; because these days, parents do not have enough time to control their children.

As I said before, those students who leave classes at 4:30 pm of even before (because some schools do have part time system from 7:00am up to 2:00 pm), some schools are nearby roads where it is easy to get buses especially before 5:00pm, but they never hurry up before the queue becomes so long, they wait for each other, they do not go with the first bus coming waiting for their preferred one or one with loud music.

Students such as these never rush because they know that nobody at home is waiting for them or will know the time they arrived.

This is different from the past where students could hurry because they knew that their parents will be at home. Therefore, to solve this problem, everyone concerned in society should play the role

First, parents and guardians should make sure that before a student goes to a non-boarding school, they have taken this problem into account and analyze it to see if a student will be able to study effectively.

They must know how far the school is, availability of transport means, among other things. Students also should be reminded of their responsibilities.

Teachers and school heads, should also try to resolve this problem because they are responsible where parents are not there.

Bodies like RURA should also brief drivers about making students their priority during peak hours. Nevertheless they should introduce a system where the driver reserves ten places in the bus for students at the bus stops.

Clemence Kawera

Our Reader