Approximately 14,200 students are expected to start using the free school transport service if it is supervised, Minister for Education Evarist Bartolo announced this morning at the launch of the white paper for consultation on free and supervised school transport.
Research commissioned by the government and conducted by Grant Thornton between November 2017 and February 2018 shows that 23,730 students currently make use of organised transport, however, this number is expected to increase by circa 14,200 if the transport is provided for free and it is supervised.
"There are currently four students out of every ten using school transport," explained Bartolo, "this service will change that to seven or eight for every ten."
The use of this service will not be compulsory.
Government rooting for a destination-specific transport system
Three options were brought to the fore from the research conducted; 'Minimum intervention', 'Centralization of route planning but retaining school-specific transport services', and 'Shifting to a destination specific transport system'. The latter, which is the most financially and economically feasible for the government, will cost €14 million to implement and will reduce the number of routes significantly.
A destination-specific transport system is based on the design of routes which are destination specific, rather than school specific, would mean that students attending different schools will be using a common carrier. Bartolo said that many respondents to the surveys expressed least enthusiasm for this option, and the first preference of the majority was 'Minimum Intervention'. This option would retain the current transport systems across all schools and introduce a refund mechanism where the government would pay for the service being provided. This will cost the government an approximate €24 million.
Supervision will be done voluntarily by teachers, paid for by government
Supervision aboard the free school transport will be done voluntarily by teachers, and will be paid for by the government, Permanent Secretary for Education Francis Fabri explained.
This extra allowance will be separate to that made in the recent agreement with teachers, he confirmed. This will be done through a full refund system with regards to independent and church schools, as opposed to a tax credit system, he explained, whilst state schools will be paid directly.
The consultation period will be open till 26 March 2018. Preliminary Market Consultation will run alongside the consultation period and will end mid-April, Grant Thornton partner George Vella informed.
The service is expected to start next scholastic year, and will launch in phases.
Further feedback may be sent by not later than 26 March 2018 via email on transportconsultation.mede@gov.mt.
Feedback in the form of a written document to the Ministry for Education and Employment will also be accepted.
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