Scores of Drivers Being Trained for National Rural School Bus Programme

More than 120 drivers are currently being trained islandwide for the National Rural School Bus Programme, to ensure a high level of professionalism under the programme.

“A fleet of buses alone cannot succeed without the people, the systems and the structures to support it. The training of drivers goes beyond driving. It covers child supervision, emergency response, and the laws that protect our students,” said Minister of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport, Hon. Daryl Vaz.

The Minister was addressing a Blessing Ceremony for the National Rural School Bus Programme, held on Wednesday (August 27), at Jamaica House.

Providing details about the programme’s operations, Mr. Vaz said it is supported by dispatchers, coordinators and maintenance teams for comprehensive and seamless service delivery.

The Minister pointed out that regional support hubs are also being established and daily sanitation and maintenance routines are built into the operations of the programme.

In addition, a dedicated rural school bus division within the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) Limited is in place to oversee and ensure reliable service.

“This is not a rushed experiment. This is a necessary intervention to have these buses rolled out in September,” Mr. Vaz emphasised.

The Minister pointed out that thousands of students across 258 schools will start to benefit from the programme in September.

Significantly, Mr. Vaz said the school bus programme has been embraced by public private vehicle (PPV) operators.

“You will notice, there has not been one outcry from one transport operator or association. They have endorsed it because they know that it is the right thing for the Government of Jamaica to deal with the rural schoolchildren as we do in Kingston or the Kingston Metropolitan Transport Region (KMTR). This issue about the taximen being at odds with the Government is absolutely false,” he added.

With an estimated 850 schools across rural Jamaica with a population of more than 300,000 students, Minister Vaz said it is the “commitment of this Minister and this Government that in about two years, we will cover the other 600 schools to make sure that we have a complete national rural school bus system for all rural schools and students”.

The programme is being executed by the Ministry of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport; the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information; the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC), and its stakeholders.