The government is mulling the option of providing free transportation to some schools as early as September as part of an initiative to ensure more children attend school punctually and regularly.
Minister of Labour, Manzoor Nadir made the statement during an interview with the Government Information Agency (GINA) yesterday at the Ministry’s Water and Cornhill streets Office.
He revealed that the project is an element of the Tackling Child Labour through Education (TACKLE) programme and would be backed by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
The other parts of the government initiative are the provision of free uniforms to every school-aged child and meals.
“Apart from the uniform and school feeding programme, we are looking to go a step further because in some localities we have children who have to walk several miles to get to and from school,” Nadir said, according to a GINA release.
He said that the project will focus on Region Four but did not disclose the specific areas being targeted. He added that the Ministry of Education will identify schools with poor attendance and low punctuality.
He mentioned that a similar project is being examined in Kwakwani, Region 10 but that would be managed by the residents of the waterfront.
“They are looking to have a school bus that they would manage themselves because not only is it expensive to send children to school in Kwakwani Park, but there are other problems”, he noted.GINA said that the Education Ministry has set a target to reduce the rate of high school leavers by half. “So our children have to get to, and stay in school,” Nadir said.
