Picking up children for school at 5am should stop

It is 5am in my neighbourhood and the streets are completely deserted. Apart from motorbikes carrying revellers who are going to rest after a busy night, very little is happening.

Peeping through the window of my 4th floor ‘apartment’, I can see the estate guards still wrapped in their shukas. It is quite cold.

One of the perks of living in such buildings is the vantage point. Although I am struggling to open my eyes, I cannot help but notice a yellow school bus maneuvering through the potholes (my MCA needs to do something).

Kudos to Interior CS Fred Matiang’i for painting these buses yellow because they literally glow in the dark.

Lined up beside the dusty road are school-going children who are dressed in heavy sweaters.

They are too tiny to even stretch their legs into the bus and have to be assisted to get in.

By the time the bus passes outside my apartment, I can see the kids catching up on some sleep before getting to school because the bus still has to do several rounds in the estate.

This made me wonder...Why would you do this to your child?

For them to be picked at 5am, it means they woke up very early.

It is said that education is the key to success but this does not mean subjecting our children to torture.

As much as we want them to do well in school, it would also be prudent of us to create a conducive learning environment for them.

Let’s face it, getting a ‘good’ school is not easy but this does not mean that taking your child to a school that is kilometers away will make them better in society.

Look for a nice school in your locality that meets your needs and those of your child. Safety is paramount.

If they have to be picked up, let it be at reasonable hours.