The Studenti Demokristjani Maltin (SDM) has said that although it is reasonable to say that school hours make a relative impact on the traffic congestion, there are wider issues evident by the continuation of the problem in the months of summer that need to be targeted before implementing any rush decisions.

In a statement, SDM suggested that the government focuses on bigger issues such as the public transport, and also offer incentives to promote car pooling and the use of other means of transportation such as motorbikes and bicycles.

It is encouraging to note that traffic is not seen as a perception anymore - SDM

The statement comes in the light of the government’s launch of a white paper on traffic congestion and whether schools can play a role in alleviating this challenge. The aim of the white paper is to provide an overview of the school operational logistics and transport system and find ways on whether this can help minimise traffic across the country.

It seeks feedback on whether the staggered school opening times can be optimised for some schools while keeping the same time brackets utilised
at present.

SDM continued: “While it is encouraging to note that traffic is not seen as a perception anymore, we believe that more reasonable and effective methods can be used to tackle this problem.

“This is why we fully agree with the proposition that a nationwide transportation system for students is organised according to the localities rather than the individual schools,” SDM said.