Free school transport initiative agreed ‘in principle’; signing of agreement in coming days

The Ministry for Education and school transport operators have reached an agreement in principle over the proposed free school transport initiative for the upcoming scholastic year, sources have told The Malta Independent.

The drafting and signing of such an agreement is still underway, with a full announcement expected later this week. TVM has quoted sources saying that the agreement will be valid for 5 years.

The measure to see free public transport provided to all nonstate school students, which formed part of the Labour Party’s electoral manifesto and was included in this year’s budget, (expected to cost €10 million per year) was projected to begin at the start of the upcoming scholastic year.

However, the newsroom was previously told that Coop Services has begun calling up parents to inform them that they will be paying the school transport fee, with government expected to refund the payment later in the year.

Sources have now explained that this no longer on the table, with a full announcement on the measure and its implementation expected in the coming days.

Prior to this, the Ministry for Education, who is overseeing the project, has long advocated a ‘minimum intervention’ model, which would retain the current transport systems across all schools and introduce a refund mechanism where the government would pay for the service being provided.