829 parents of non-state school children are still on the waiting list for school transport, according to the latest statistics released by government.

In a press conference addressed today, Education Minister Evarist Bartolo and members of his staff stressed that government is and will continue to work for all students to be catered for.

The ministry is currently working on the mapping situation, ensuring that if there are any spaces available on buses not yet full, students are assigned.  The minister could not say by when the situation would be solved, but added that government is committed to solving it.

The minister also said that the number of transport operators has been increasing, and that 75 operators have thus far signed on.

As for state school students, the minister announced that there are 868 vehicles signed on, and 14,000 students will be carried. The minister said that state-school transport logistics were always handled by the state and will continue to be done so. The preparations for state school students have concluded, the routes planned and parents informed as to where their children are meant to be picked up from.

For non-state school children the system remained the same where the parents contact the operators directly, or a coordinator for a particular school, who then handles it.

Turning to the question surrounding supervisors on the transport, the minister announced that there will be supervision for kindergarten students of state schools gradually introduced this year.

As for the monitoring service, through which parents would be able to tell through a mobile application that their children have boarded or exited the bus, will the introduced by the end of the year for state schools. As for independent and church schools, it will start to be introduced by the beginning of 2019.

The ministry had signed two separate 5-year agreements, one with operators for state school transport, and the other for non-state school transport. Whereas prior to the agreement, non-state school transport operators would charge different amounts to parents, not the prices have been agreed upon by the state, varying according to route and vehicle type.

Government said that on Monday, educators and professional staff will return to schools, meaning that there will be an increase of vehicles on the roads during certain hours.  On Monday, some non-state schools also start their year, while state schools open on Wednesday. The ministry appealed to the public to cooperate with traffic management officials.

In a statement, the Nationalist Party said that the government's procrastination is cuasing problems for more than 800 families.

The PN said that this is creating uncertainty at a time when students and their parents are gearing up for the new scholastic year.

Video by Michael Camilleri