FDE-run institutes halt bus service

Cite lack of funds for fuel purchase as reason behind suspension

ISLAMABAD:

The Federal Directorate of Education-run educational institutions in Islamabad have once again halted the transportation facility for poor students using buses to and from schools and colleges over lack of funds.

According to sources, the transport service for children at the educational institutions in the federal capital has once again been terminated.

The Islamabad Model College for Girls I-10/2 and Islamabad College for Girls I-8 have halted the bus service on the pretence of lack of money to purchase diesel, adding to the woes of the parents.

The principals of the colleges frequently requested that the FDE director general for provision of funds for college transportation, but the authorities allegedly disregarded their requests, and as a result, buses are now being suspended owing to a shortage of funding.

Sources said the buses of more colleges will also be stopped from Tuesday [today], while most of the children of colleges in Islamabad may be deprived of transportation facilities from this week.

Parents say that at a time when the academic session is about to end and the annual exams are going to be held in the next month [March], it is cruel to end the transport facility.

“At present, the private vehicles are also not available, due to which serious difficulties have arisen for us,” they lamented.

The parents, who are experiencing extreme problems as a result of the transport service's closure, have appealed to Minister of Education and Vocational Training Rana Tanveer Hussain to take notice for immediate restoration of the transport facility.

The education minister had earlier taken notice of the government educational institutions stopping transport and demanding transport fees from children and directed the FDE director general not to end the provision of buses for children.

The National Assembly was also assured by the government that the transport facility for the educational institutions of Islamabad will not be terminated, but despite these assurances and clear instructions from Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and the education minister, the Islamabad Model College for Girls I-10/4 has terminated the transport facility for female students and the parents have been informed about this through WhatsApp.

This scribe did not get any response to the queries sent to the offices of the FDE DG and the education minister, seeking their opinion on the issue, till the filing of this report. However, informed sources in the FDE as well as in the education ministry, on the condition of anonymity, told this scribe that the government was facing an acute shortage of funds triggering the suspension of transport services for students.

In October last year, a transport fee of up to Rs2,500 was imposed on students of educational institutions in Islamabad which are being run under the FDE. Following this, the school and college management committees handed over transport fee slips to the students, asking them to pay a minimum of Rs1,500 and a maximum of Rs2,500 from November 1, 2022, or stop using buses forthwith.

However, following a strong protest from parents, the FDE barred the schools and colleges from collecting transport fees from students.

In February 2021, the federal cabinet of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government authorised the FDE to run buses through the school and college management committees on a cost-sharing basis.

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.

As funds were not provided to the FDE and educational institutions, most buses remained parked before the FDE through the Ministry of Federal Education forwarded a summary to the federal cabinet, seeking approval to run the buses on a cost-sharing basis.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, February 14^th, 2023.