HIBAPRESS-Jerada
An administrative decision to cancel the school transport service for male and female students in the village of Arshida and some hamlets affiliated with the Mrija commune in the province of Jerada has sparked a wave of concern and dissatisfaction among the affected families. They fear that the decision will directly impact their children's continued education, especially in the absence of practical transportation alternatives.
According to the information received in this regard, the issue concerns 43 male and female students, including 22 girls, who were benefiting from school transport before being directed towards accommodation as an alternative to daily transportation. However, this alternative, according to the affected families, does not take into account the specificities of the region and the social conditions of the families, and the potential additional difficulties resulting from residing away from the family environment.
The decision, on the other hand, raises questions about the management of the school bus route, especially since it continues to operate and pick up a number of students from hamlets located along the road, while the transport service does not include students from the village of Arshida, which is about 20 kilometers from the center of Mrija, according to the circulated data.
The concerned families believe that the continued operation of the bus on the same route without benefiting Arshida students necessitates a review of the journey organization and the distribution of beneficiaries to ensure a more equitable benefit, especially for students whose homes are in more distant areas and lack alternative transportation.
The issue is of particular importance for the education of girls, as families consider school transport to have been a facilitating factor for many girls in the region to continue their education in preparatory and secondary schools over the years, given the constraints imposed by geographical distance and the difficulty of travel in rural areas.
The new school start time, beginning at 8 AM, has also intensified the concerns expressed by the families, as adhering to this schedule becomes more difficult for students living far from educational institutions, in the absence of regular and suitable transportation.
Faced with this situation, the affected families have expressed their rejection of what they consider to be exclusion from the school transport service, demanding an urgent solution that guarantees their sons and daughters their right to access educational institutions without geographical distance being an obstacle to continuing their studies.
These families emphasize that their primary demand is to find a practical formula for managing school transport, whether by reorganizing the current route or adopting an alternative solution that ensures the beneficiaries receive service, to avoid any interruption in education. This is particularly important as it concerns a new academic year that requires providing suitable conditions to ensure continuity and equity in access to education.
This file remains open for various interventions and clarifications from the concerned authorities, pending a solution that takes into account the specificities of the region and the needs of the students and families, and ensures the continued education of the children of Arshida village and the affected hamlets.
