On the Way to School

Gr 5 Up—In this award-winning French documentary, the children of four families from different parts of the globe are filmed as they make their way to school. But these kids do not have the advantages of sidewalks, school buses, and crossing guards; they must navigate miles of arduous, sometimes dangerous, terrain without adult supervision. Eleven-year-old Carlito and his little sister go on horseback, starting out on treacherous slopes to descend into the Argentinian plains. Their 18-kilometer trip takes them 1.5 hours each way. In Morocco, 12-year-old Zahira meets her two friends to hike steep, rocky mountain paths to their boarding school 22 kilometers away. Their journey takes them four hours, if they are lucky enough to catch a ride along the way. Samuel, 13, lives in India, physically disabled and confined to a makeshift wheelchair. His younger brothers must push him the four kilometers to school. It takes them 1.25 hours. Eleven-year-old Jackson's Kenyan family is Maasai. He and his sister trot 15 kilometers through a savanna populated by dangerous elephant herds. It's a two-hour trek each way. Footage of the film's rudimentary dwellings and the children's modest way of life are unlikely to be adequate for many young American viewers to comprehend what drives these young people's determination to get to school. Difficult to read subtitles are frustrating. However, memorable scenes, like that of Jackson and his sister, tiny silhouettes against the immensity of the African plain, will leave a lasting impression.