The Education Ministry has introduced several measures to address the shortage of school bus drivers, including allowing operators to designate common pick-up and drop-off points.
SINGAPORE: School bus operators that choose to designate common pick-up and drop-off points should ensure they are"safe and well-selected", such as being sheltered or with minimal traffic, said the Ministry of Education on Monday .
CNA spoke to some parents who expressed concerns about their children’s safety, especially if they have to walk longer distances alone to the pick-up points. The parents also had mixed views on how far these pick-up points should be.as they cope with issues such as the manpower crunch and high Certificate of Entitlement prices, will correspondingly reduce their fees if they implement common pick-up and drop-off points.
“My wife and I wanted to take the bus because it’s more convenient. It’s also safe since it’s just downstairs and we know what time they will leave and get back. If the pick-up point is further now, we’ll be worried ... It will sort of defeat the purpose,” he added. Ms Eileen Tay, who lives in a Pasir Ris condominium unit, said she still expects her child to be picked up and dropped off within the condominium. Several other students in the condominium also take the bus.Mr Kelvin Tan, the managing partner of Rae Transport Services, said the issue of a common pick-up and drop-off point has been “a problem since donkey years back”.
"The sense is that many of these young students may be very young,” he added."Their parents quite difficult to bring them out to a common pick-up point." “You can only solve the current problems you are facing but in the long term, three to five years down the road, we don’t know what will happen with the shortage of manpower,” he added.
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