What’s the point of pods if pupils share school bus?
A PRINCIPAL has expressed fears that his pupils will be mixing with children from six schools on the same bus.
Seán Ó hArgáin, of Gaelscoil Osraí in Co. Kilkenny, said that some parents are now questioning the value of the ‘pod’ system of keeping pupils in small groups.
‘Out of 450 children, I would think we have about 10% who travel to our school by bus,’ said Mr Ó hArgáin.
‘And since we’re a Gaelscoil we have a high percentage of kids who come
‘They all share the transport’
from many different villages, from as far as Tipperary each day.
‘We have about six buses who drop them off each day, but they all share transport with students from multiple schools around the locality.
‘This is a particular concern for many parents who feel that their child is overexposed to children that aren’t even in their community,’ he said.
The primary school principal added that some parents have called the effectiveness of class pod arrangements into question. ‘One person asked me what the reason was for putting the children into pods when at 6pm that evening they’ll be training with the local GAA club with children from other schools,’ he remarked. ‘But the only thing we can do is look after our pupils from the time they arrive to school to the time they leave.’ Meanwhile, bus operators have been left in limbo after a decision to cut capacity on school buses for secondary pupils to 50% was rowed back on by Bus Éireann on Friday afternoon. Although the Government had said that social distancing would not apply to school buses, it did a surprise U-turn last week meaning that new rules – which affect secondary school students only – would see Bus Éireann’s School Transport Scheme reduced to 50% capacity.
And in letters to parents later on Friday afternoon, Bus Éireann said not all buses would be at the 50% mark from the start.
It will commence its school transport for second-level pupils as planned this week – as it begins seeking hundreds of extra buses.
Government grants of €5 a day have been promised to those who qualified for free services with the Bus Éireann-run School Transport Scheme if they wish to drive their own children to school. But private school bus operators – and the 90,000 children they cater for – have been left with no guidance and no financial help.