The transport service for church and independent schools is being used by 11,625 pupils and is costing the government an estimated €8.5 million, Education Minister Evarist Bartolo told Nationalist MP Simon Busuttil in reply to a parliamentary question on Wednesday.

972 vans and buses have been registered for the service. 

The minister said no supervision is being provided in this scholastic year but parents may opt for supervision, in which case they can make the necessary arrangements and pay for it, as in the previous years. 

The minister confirmed that his ministry had received complaints about early pick-up times.

Although it was not the government's role to involve itself in how the service operated, a department within the Education Ministry was working to address these problems, he said.  

READ: Silence over whether school transport waiting list has gone down

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