Children should not have to wake up at 5.30am to go to school, Education Minister Evarist Bartolo said yesterday.

Asked about the White Paper on school opening hours and traffic congestion during a press conference, Mr Bartolo said that the proposals have been met with vociferous reactions.

“As its title implies, it is just a White Paper for goodness’ sake – we are looking to get people’s feedback and suggestions to help solve the issue of traffic congestion.

“Of course I am against forcing children out of bed at 5.30am.”

The White Paper has been met with harsh criticism from the Malta Union of Teachers and Malta Chamber of Commerce, among others.

Mr Bartolo said that schools were not the crux of the problem as a number of different sectors contributed to traffic congestion. There were instances in summer where bottlenecks were experienced during non-school operational hours.

Parents need more financial incentives to make it feasible to send their children to school on a van or bus

The White Paper noted that the current percentage of students using State school transport was 75.8 per cent, and recommended introducing incentives and measures to bolster the figure to 90 per cent.

School opening and dismissal times are already staggered in the majority of the State schools. The White Paper urges Church and independent schools to follow suit.

A number of these schools already have transport arrangements but most parents still tend to make use of their private cars.

Such schools have a wider catchment area than State schools which operate through a college system, Mr Bartolo noted.

It seemed that the Budget incentive of giving parents a tax credit of €150 when they opted to use school transport instead of their cars was not enough, he added.

“Apart from the fees of private schools, transport fees are an added expense, especially if a family has more than one child. Parents need more financial incentives to make it feasible for them to send their children to school on a van or bus.”

Some of the White Paper’s proposals:

• Increase the existing financial incentives for the use of school transport and subsidise school transport for Church and independent schools.

• All schools should open at least an hour earlier in the morning and the organisation of extra-curricular activities introduced.

• Explore different dismissal times for students using school transport and students who are picked up by their parents.

• Services delivered by heavy vehicles should not coincide with the heavy morning traffic time.

• Address quality of school transport provision – including careless driving, lack of bus safety seatbelts and early morning pick-up hours as well as late drop-off afternoon hours.

• Include on board transport supervision to discourage bullying.

• Encourage the use of bicycles and bicycle lanes in major urban areas.

• Introduce parking perimeters where parents can leave their cars and accompany their children safely on foot for short distances to and from school.