VOA慢速英語： 內(nèi)羅畢交通成為無數(shù)小學(xué)生夢魘

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As the traffic in Nairobi worsens, primary school pupils who depend on publictransportation seem to be suffering the most as they try to keep up with thedemands of school.

Drivers sit at a traffic circle with its exits blocked off by barriers to prevent right turns, on a highway in downtown Nairobi, Kenya Tuesday, April 14, 2015. (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim)

Some private and public primary school pupils wake up as early as 4:00 am tobeat the traffic and be in class on time. In the evening, the pupils are alsocaught up in traffic. They may arrive home as late as 6:30 to 7:30 pm.

“My mother wakes me up at 4:30 am, and by 5:00 am we are at the bus stopwaiting for the school van,” confirms Joy Wandia, a 12-year-old in class six at a private school.

The current floods in the city have not made life easier for the pupils. Lastweek, 11 pupils from Makini Schools waited for 10 hours to be rescued whentheir school bus was nearly covered in water during a traffic jam.

The students were rescued and taken to Boma Hotel. It was almost dawnwhen their parents came to pick them up. The parents were also caught up in the traffic mess.

“Our timetable has been greatly affected by the traffic, especially on rainydays, as we try to ensure the students and the teachers get home and toschool on time,” says James Mwangi, the school principal for MavensEducation Centre. He says the problem is even worse for public school pupilswho use the ‘matatus’- a public taxi van that provides transport across thecity.

“Public school pupils, who mainly use the matatus, are exposed to greaterrisks as they board and alight from these matatus," he says. Unlike theirprivate counterparts, the matatus don’t take them directly to the school and noone is responsible for their safety.”

A few years ago, the IBM Commuter Pain Index Report listed Nairobi amongcities with the world’s longest traffic jams.

The report concluded that traffic jams increase the level of stress and anger. Itnoted this can create negative attitudes for commuters and affect theirperformance at work or school. The long-term effect is that traffic problemscan create a negative attitude in the pupils towards school.

“By midday [the] majority of the students are already tired and sleepy, and theyfind it difficult to concentrate in class,” says John Wanyama, a primary schoolteacher. He adds that the pupils do not finish up their homework properly, asmany of them do it without the supervision of their parents. Some of thechildren may instead be doing homework on the bus.

Susan Wairimu is a mother of two pupils and a businesswoman. “We don’tmake it home early to spend enough time with our children," she says. "Theschool also makes it stressful for the pupils as they are given tons ofhomework in at least three subjects every day.”

She notes that many children lack playing time, which can be important fortheir physical growth. In many schools, the Physical Education (P.E.) andGames lessons have been reduced or even cancelled to cover for the timelost sitting in traffic.

For the past few years, Nairobi County’s performance in the Kenya Certificateof Primary Education (KCPE) has met criticism from various stakeholders.Even though traffic congestion is not the only major cause of the poorperformance, it highly contributes to it.

Nairobi Governor Dr. Evans Kidero finds it ironic that Nairobi County, whichincludes the capital, was lagging behind six other counties in 2013 KenyaCertificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examinations.

“The six counties that outperformed Nairobi don’t have the resources citedabove," he says. "They have to travel to Nairobi to access them. All of us inNairobi City and County must take matters of education in our own hands toensure that the performance upholds the status of the county as the capital.”

Some estimates say the city of Nairobi loses approximately $1 billion due totraffic delays annually. The cost might be even higher if one considers theburden placed on school children, the nation's future leaders.