Parents of children who attend Church and private schools are sceptical about the effectiveness of the €150 tax credit that granted in the Budget to encourage more of them to make use of school transport.

The chairman of the board at San Andrea School, Edgar Caruana Montaldo, said it might push them to start using the school van but it would not be a major factor.

“I think that some parents find it easier to take their children to school themselves because it is on their way to work,” he said. He said the subsidy might make a difference when parents have more than one child.

However, there were other issues that affected school transport including the number of available vans and the safety factor.

Similarly, the chairman of the Association of Parents of Children in Church Schools, Joseph Mercieca, said the refund would not make a tangible difference.

There are other issues that need to be discussed, such as the time the children were picked up by the vans, and drivers who were driving “like mad” to keep up with the work and extra trips they were making.

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