Extra work will have to be done by school heads and teachers to ensure the proper management of the money that will be given today by the Government for the bus fares of students from Class 1 to Form 7 under the no Bus fare Program.
Permanent Secretary at the Prime Minister's Office, Lieutenant Colonel Pio Tikoduadua said like with school grants, head teachers and principals must take on the responsibility in dealing with this bus fare money.
Tikoduadua said checks and balances will be carried out on every school after the Finance Ministry handed over $500,000 to the Education Ministry last week.
Tikoduadua said the Free Bus fare Program and money allocated will take into account the whole amount a student uses for bus fares in a given day, irrespective of the different stages.
He said that government is hopeful that majority of schools who have school buses will receive their cheques today.
Meanwhile, in the event that students do not receive their bus fares today from their various schools, the Fiji Bus Operators Association said that children should come prepared with their own bus fares tomorrow.
In a memo sent out to all 57 bus operators in the country, Association General Secretary, Rohit Latchan said that basically there is no change to the current situation - bus drivers will collect fares from all students.
Latchan explains that when the "Free Bus fare Program" kick starts tomorrow and some students have not received their fares yet from their schools, they will have to keep their bus tickets and claim from their schools.
According to Latchan the Association understands that Government will start disbursing money to students from today and their job is to ensure that all students make it to school on time.
Meanwhile, the largest Hindu organisation Shri Sanatan Dharam which runs 105 schools around the country has called on parents to carefully consider government's no Bus fare Program for school students.
General Secretary, Vijendra Prakash said parents who can afford children's bus fares should pay, as money saved would be able to be used in other areas.
Feature
Bus fare program must be well managed
