‘Will arrange funds for FDE to run free buses’

ISLAMABAD:

Federal Minister for Education Rana Tanveer Hussain has said that no transport fee will not be levied on poor students and the government will ensure the availability of funds for educational institutions in Islamabad.

He said that the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) has been asked to provide details of the total transport cost so that funds could immediately be arranged.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Rana Tanvir, who had earlier barred schools and colleges from collecting transport fee from students, said that the FDE will be provided with all requisite funds to make sure that free buses were plied and no fee was charged from the poor students.

“We will arrange even Rs500 million, if the need arises, but we will impose no transport fee on the students,” he said.

Sources in the FDE said that the government had allocated a budget of Rs95 million for transport during the current financial year, however, so far only 22 million could be released to the FDE under the quarterly budget and the funds were spent on the transport expenditures of one month.

The sources said that at least Rs300 million was required under the head of transport cost for the current academic session

The FDE during the PTI government sent a summary seeking funds to meet transport costs including salaries of drivers and helpers.

On February 2, 2021, the federal cabinet authorised the FDE to run buses through the school and college management committees on a cost-sharing basis.

Rana Tanveer said that Imran Khan’s government approved the cost-sharing regime by doing away with the free transport for the poo children.

Answering a question about reviewing the cost-sharing issue by the federal cabinet, the education minister said that “people are our priority. I am also in the cabinet. We will give the budget and buses will run”. Rana Tanveer said that “I am, absolutely, saying that the budget will be given to the FDE”.

On the other hand, sources said that during the previous Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s tenure, the FDE had procured 200 buses for schools and colleges, however, funds were not allocated to run the buses to cover the costs of fuel, drivers and helpers.

Government educational institutions provide free education after the implementation of Article 25A which also covers the transport cost. Earlier, the FDE-run educational institutions in Islamabad imposed up to Rs2,500 on poor students using buses to and from schools and colleges.

However, following a strong protest from parents, the FDE barred schools and colleges from collecting transport fee from the poor students. FDE Director-General Dr Ikram Ali Malik said that “if funds were made available, the transport fee will not be collected from children. He said that in light of the previous cabinet's decision, buses should be run on a cost-sharing basis.

“Keeping this in mind, we will request the government to give a budget of at least Rs400 million so that expenses of buses as well as salaries of drivers and conductors can be met,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 8^th, 2022.