Over 11,000 church and private school students using free school transport

A total of 11,625 students who attend church and private schools are currently making use of the free school transport scheme, Education minister Evarist Bartolo said on Wednesday. 

Bartolo was replying to a parliamentary question by PN MP Simon Busuttil who asked for the number of students making use of the newly-introduced scheme. 

The minister said that a total of €8.5m has been spent to provide the service to church and state schools. 

The cost in providing the service is also subject to the number of students making use of the service, Bartolo said. 

A total of 972 vehicles which provide service to church and state schools are registered with the ministry for education. 

When asked whether any complaints regarding the service were received, Bartolo said that despite having no jurisdiction on the operation of the service, the ministry would be forwarding the complaints to the service providers, in an effort to improve it.