Debate student transport in house of representatives.

Debate student transport in house of representatives.

The house of representatives spoke on Wednesday 19 October in a debate about the problems in student transport. For over a year, Ouders & Onderwijs has worked to get attention for student transport. Last week there was a roundtable discussion in the house of representatives where Ouders & Onderwijs participated, on 19 October members spoke with Minister Wiersma (education) and State Secretary Heijnen (transport) about the problems. 

Reimbursements

D66 member of parliament Van Meenen proposed to let municipalities reimburse costs when parents have to arrange other transport for their child if regular student transport does not come or is too late. That should be a short-term solution. Van Meenen thinks it is primarily the responsibility of municipalities to tackle the problem. The plan got much support from other parties, but also raised questions. De Hoop (Labour party) wondered if the national government should also contribute, for example with extra money. In last week’s roundtable discussion Lobke Vlaming (director of Ouders & Onderwijs) already suggested that parents should be able to show their receipt to the municipalities. Among others, Lisa Westerveld (GreenLeft) said that members of parliament can also ask municipal council members from their own party to bring the problem to attention in their municipality. 

The long term and tendering system

All parties agreed that the system should be looked at for the long term. Currently, municipalities place transport through tenders with transport companies. It could, for example, be the responsibility of schools or Partnerships Tailored Education. The way of tendering got a lot of criticism. Too much focus would go to the price and the quality of transport would be lost. Ouders & Onderwijs also asked for attention for the long term and the problems around the tendering system. The long travel times that cause many problems and supervision on the bus should also be included. The minister said parties constantly point fingers and he finds that ‘driving crazy’.  

The VVD proposed to also stimulate the independence and self-reliance of students who use student transport. They think that schools and municipalities with parents should look at what students can do, so student transport can be used for students who cannot do without it. Ouders & Onderwijs previously said that the focus must stay on the core and that this discussion does not solve the main problem. It is about vulnerable students and most cannot go to school by themselves. There should be no pressure on parents to choose public transport or the bicycle. 

Solutions

The minister wants to bring the involved parties, including municipalities, together to find short-term solutions. He said it is hard to intervene because the responsibility is so divided. For the longer term, the minister wants to ‘help’ the conversation about the responsibility and the tendering and report on the progress of these talks. The municipalities did not say in talks that money is the problem. The problem is the hard search for drivers for student transport. The minister thinks money is therefore not the solution. 

Before the debate, the organization for students in secondary special education (LBVSO) handed a petition to Minister Dennis Wiersma. The petition is supported among others by many parents and teachers union AOb. Ouders & Onderwijs has worked for a long time with LBVSO on the topic of student transport. 

Our director, Lobke Vlaming, wrote a reaction to the debate on Twitter. You can watch the whole debate via debatgemist.tweedekamer.nl.   

Tonight at 7:00 pm in the Youth news: an interview with Lobke about student transport.

• Watch the broadcast here tonight at 7:00 pm.
• Read more here about the roundtable discussion of 12 October.