WILLEMSTAD – In the past six years, the number of students has dropped from 15,979 to 12,757, a decrease of twenty percent. Minister Sithree van Heydoorn of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport reported this during yesterday's parliamentary question time.
One of the consequences of this decline is the reduced need for school transport. Party colleague Gibi Doran had asked questions about school transport and salaries in this sector.
The minister acknowledged that the salary aspects of school transportation are a point of discussion. However, he stated that a fixed salary has never been paid to drivers transporting school children, and the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport (OWCS) also does not have a budget to pay fixed salaries.
According to Van Heydoorn, transporting students has always been a part-time job, with drivers being paid per kilometer or per transported child. Despite no previous agreements on fixed salaries, an employee suggested that a commitment had been made.
Van Heydoorn emphasized that the ministry will not reverse the transfer of school transport to ABC Bus Company. He pointed out the longstanding problem of drivers having difficulty finding addresses when dropping off children and deemed this criticism unfounded.
There are no new developments in the school transport policy, and there is no shortage of drivers since the transfer to ABC.