Children’s ombudsman to raise school transport issues in Oireachtas review

CHILDREN’S Ombudsman, Emily Logan, is to bring problems experienced by parents accessing school transport to the attention of an Oireachtas review of outdated rules.

She is preparing a submission to the committee of Dáil and Seanad members which has indicated it is likely to recommend major changes to catchment boundaries for school bus routes.

The Oireachtas Committee on Education will begin hearings on the issue in April, having advertised for submissions from interested parties earlier this month.

Ms Logan said school transport was one of the fastest growing subjects of complaints to her office about the education system.

“We’re looking at the difficulties being experienced where there’s a dispute about how far someone lives outside the boundary for their school and about interpretation of the policy, which appear to be adhered to very strictly,” she said.

“We will look at the anecdotal evidence of what parents are saying to us about school transport and put questions to the committee about why there are problems.”

Ms Logan raised school transport as one of a number of issues in an address to the Irish Primary Principals Network last night.

Another transport issue has been the policy of some schools not to allow pupils be dropped outside by the school bus on to the grounds until classes are ready to begin.

“Once children are dropped off from school transport, there seems to be concern about the gap in time between when they are left off the bus to when the school gates open,” Ms Logan said.

“In the past, the schools were responsible but insurance companies appear to have told them not to allow children into the grounds until classes are about to start.”

She suggested to principals that they should take more time to talk to children about complaints and not feel too restricted by policies they are not legally obliged to have in place.

“I’m trying to encourage principals to talk to children themselves because there seems to be a very complex system of managing complaints. They should think outside the box, do the right thing and use common sense and intuition because sometimes policies and procedures themselves are not good,” she said.