Parents to stop school buses

A representative of the parents of the students, Joel Scott, told Newsday since the school term started last Monday, the students have had to squeeze themselves into two buses that would transport them from San Juan to the St George East District Office building in Tunapuna.

He said when the children were relocated to Tunapuna five years ago while the schools were being repaired, four buses were made available to transport students. This eventually dropped to three buses, and at the beginning of this school term, only two bi-articulated buses or “accordion” buses were made available to the students.

He claimed the buses were overloaded, with three or four students fitting themselves onto a seat while the taller children were asked to stand. “This is a health and safety issue. Anything can happen when the buses are overloaded like that.

If the bus had to make a sudden break, children who are not properly seated could be propelled forward and damage themselves. And the insurance would not cover the children because the bus is overloaded,” He said when the parents arrive at the pick up location today, if the buses were once again overloaded, they would ask the teachers to leave the bus as the buses could not go without the supervision of teachers.

The thanked the teachers for providing this favour over the years as supervising children on a bus was not part of their job description.

He added that on Tuesday, only one accordion bus and a shorter bus was made available to transport the students of the two schools.

Scott said the parents had been writing letters to the Ministry of Education, the School Supervisor, and Barataria/San Juan MP, Dr Fuad Khan to assist but their letters had not been acknowledged.

“We parents are saying enough is enough. Every day for the past four, going on five years we have been silent but we can no longer stand by while our children travel in these unsafe conditions.” He noted that the first bus usually leaves San Juan at 7.30 am and the second at 8 am. He also said school started at 8.30 am and ended at 2 pm so that the children have less school hours. This also applied to Standard 5 students who, he said, were under the “same amount of pressure” as all the other students, with no extra class time or special privileges as they prepare for the Secondary Entrance Assessment exam.

“The situation is really bad and no one seems to care. That is why we are embarking on our protest action until somebody listens to us. It is not meant to disrupt the school or prevent the children from learning. It is meant to highlight our plight, what is happening, and the safety of our children.”