From K. Abela

Who decides if our children go to private lessons? Or to a football nursery? Or to a religious society? Parents? Teachers? Wrong. It is the schoolbus driver.

Last year, I contacted the secondary school my son attends, as well as the education department, several times with regard to the time my son was arriving at his drop off point in Naxxar. The 15-minute bus ride was taking well over an hour, and the drop off point was continually changed because the bus driver either arrived late to pick up the children from school, or decided to change his route.

The result is that, combined with a long 30-minute walk home in all kinds of weather, loaded with heavy books as one well knows, it is then well past 5pm, leaving not much time for anything else, after homework and study. This was recently confirmed when the authorities at Liceo Vassalli proposed that the school times be changed so that children arrive home from school earlier. The school was in agreement, as were the teachers, the parents and the education authorities. So no problem, right? Wrong. Yes, you’ve guessed. The bus drivers and their authority disagreed so the plan had to be abandoned.Yes, bus drivers rule, OK!

K. Abela

NAXXAR