Students using e-transport cards will have to wait in school until 2.30pm

Transport arrangements have been made for students sitting for afternoon papers in Years 12 and 13 external examinations from tomorrow due to restrictions on the use of etransport cards.

A total of 20,627 students nationwide will be sitting the exams from tomorrow till 17 December 2020.

Education Minister Rosy Akbar says as some exam papers finish at 5.10 pm, students will not be able to use their blue cards which are restricted, and as such, all heads of schools have been instructed by the Ministry to identify affected students and arrange transport.

She says the student subsidised e-ticketing cards were earlier restricted to only be usable from 6.30am to 9am, and from 2.30pm to 5pm, to stop the large number of students who were abusing these cards to skip school and get up to mischief during and after school hours.

Akbar says the Ministry decided that opening up these restrictions during exams would lead to many students playing truant instead of heading home to study for their next paper.

She says to ensure that students reach home safely after their exams, they decided that transport should be arranged to get students directly home so they are safely studying for their next paper.

She says neither students nor their parents will pay a single cent.

The Education Minister also says those parents wishing to pick up their students after exams are most welcome to do so.

Akbar says they instructed school heads to use the Free Education Grant funding to pay for costs because of the quick availability.

She says this will be reimbursed as necessary from the subsidised transport allocation.

The Education Minister says the blatantly misleading statement by the NFP Leader insinuates that students will somehow be deprived of education because the Free Education Grant is being used to rapidly arrange transportation so that children can get home safely to their parents.

She says it is not only dishonest but extremely irresponsible by Prasad and his NFP to gain political mileage by creating an atmosphere of fear, confusion and anger among parents.

Akbar says the Government is using budgeted allocations and managing funds wisely to fully benefit students.

National Federation Party Leader Professor Biman Prasad has described this directive to heads of schools and teachers in secondary schools shameful saying the Education Ministry should have used common sense and arrived at alternative and viable solutions instead of further burdening the school heads and staff.

He says the fact that schools are being asked to fork out funds from the tuition-free education grant is yet another example of the Education Ministry’s fast-drying up budgetary provision.

Prasad says common sense would suggest that the students be issued with vouchers that was previously done to maintain bus fare subsidy.

He says school heads are being directed to carry out additional administrative duties at a time when the welfare of students is the top priority in terms of ensuring a climate conducive to the conduct of examinations.

Prasad says this type of administrative bungling and burdening others for one’s failures have become symptomatic in the Education Ministry.

The NFP Leader says the buck stops with the Minister for Education.