Mirana Agius Silvio, LEAD participant
Free public transport for children attending both State and non-State schools is an electoral proposal pledged by the government which will be introduced as of next scholastic year. This proposal has created interest on various levels, mainly the fact that both political parties included it in their respective manifestos. However, it was only the Labour Party which was able to give an indication of the cost of such an initiative. This is due to the country being in a position to financially support this proposal through its ongoing economic growth and surplus.
Such is the importance of the project that, through consultation, the Ministry of Education and Employment promised an improvement in the overall quality of service, economic viability, efficiency and value. An increase of approximately 14,000 students making use of the scheme will be the yardstick of its success. This will hopefully result in a reduction in traffic congestion at peak hours.
Will it work? Parents who already send their children to school with mini vans and buses amounting to 48 per cent of the overall non-State school goers, have surely welcomed this initiative as one which will save them money with the added bonus of supervision. These parents have been willing to pay for school transport and they will now be receiving a refund as opposed to a tax credit. As long as the service provider will keep the standards they have become used to, there should not be a problem, especially if the service improves as promised. Worrying are stories of young children and adolescents, being picked up at the break of dawn. If through logistical planning, even this hurdle is overcome, then I am positive the system will work among this faction.
We cannot expect that this system will solveall our problems, magically and overnight
The main concern of the majority of parents who do not make use of any transport service, circles around the unsupervised transport offered. Research has proven that this concern might be the main reason why parents decide to bundle their kids in their car, brave the morning traffic, drop their kids off to school before heading to work or back home adding to more traffic.
Are they to be blamed for not trusting their four-year-old on a minivan at 7am, zip zapping through other towns picking up children on the way to school without some form of adult supervision? Some argue that we need a change in mentally if we are to let go. There will always be a number of parents who, for one reason or another, will opt to drive their children to school and this is a reality we have to accept and eventually cater for in other ways.
Once the system starts operating it is imperative that it is efficient. Word of a good and free service will go a long way in enticing more parents to make use of it.
Supervisors will also be introduced on all the free transport systems, both State and non-State schools. While State school teachers applying for supervision duties will be paid directly, the government will refund Church and private schools. These supervisors will be responsible for attendance, overall supervision and order as well as reporting any incidents. Supervision will surely give most parents the peace of mind they need.
The reality is that we cannot expect that this system will solve all our problems, magically and overnight. Surely as a stand alone, the measure might not leave the desired effect immediately. Solving any teething problems that might arise timely is critical in the early stages. I believe that in the long term, the free public transport for students already introduced in this year’s budget, as well as the ongoing upgrading of roads, resizing of roundabouts and other important infrastructural works such as the Marsa junction, will contribute to a real and much needed breather from the traffic saga while creating a more just social framework where free transport is provided to all irrespective of the choice of school.
Toni Bezzina, Shadow Minister for Transport
Prior to the last general election, the Nationalist Party had pledged to introduce free school transport for all students together with many other social measures such as extended maternity leave and the introduction of paternity leave. These measures were meant as social efforts to reward hard-working families and provide much required investment into our country’s strongest resource, its children and its people.
Any measure introduced by the State must have the main aim of being successful and in this case, relieving our roads from much undesired traffic stress throughout the day. Such a service will also permit better time management in the lives of working parents.
The success of such an undertaking will depend on the mind frame of those implementing it. I do not get the impression that the Minister of Education understands fully that this initiative is meant to drastically change the lives of many, including self-employed finding themselves caught up in constant rush-hour traffic.
In a recent social media public PR stunt the minister gave the impression that “not much will change for Church and independent school students and parents, except of course that the service will be provided free of charge through public funding”. The idea that the State will be giving a ‘freebie’ by means of this measure is totally the wrong way of going about this initiative. It is this attitude that unfortunately will lead to a less successful implementation and overall result.
Measures will have to be put in place to ensure a good service is provided, inspections are carried out and trips are supervised accordingly
The investment required for such an exercise is much less than that of not doing anything about it. I envisage the situation on our roads is far from being close to sustainable. There have been very few real proposals and projects in this sector that have a long-term vision. Unfortunately, as is the case in many sectors, the government is only interested in specific areas that seem to be of benefit to their agendas. Half-baked plans and slapdash jobs are the order of the day. A single case in point is the Xarolla Avenue in Żurrieq that joins Triq il-Kuċċard in Safi: the area has become a monument of incompetence in this field, a case which I am sure is similar to many others around the country.
Another important element in this exercise is the private sector. Vehicles will have to be procured together with service providers from the private sector. What is the current situation on this matter, what standards are expected when it comes to the provision of service and safety measures of such vehicles? Work is already underway to enrol private transport providers required to extend this service. Measures will have to be put in place to ensure a good service is provided, inspections are carried out and trips are supervised accordingly.
I hope that the end of June deadline will leave the appropriate time for such a service to be provided efficiently come the next scholastic year. The allocation of €10 million a year towards an effort that can see less congestion, less pollution and an overall better lifestyle is something that we need to make work.
This needs to be given due consideration and must be part of many other measures that are required to tackle congestion and the ever-rising level of pollution that has led to Malta registering the worst results in air quality in the European Union.
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