Hike in bus fees adds to parents’ worries about school transport

PUNE It is a state of joy and worry for Mahesh Shastri and his wife, their daughter is starting school again

PUNE It is a state of joy and worry for Mahesh Shastri and his wife, their daughter is starting school again. The issue they are worried about is her transportation to school. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the school bus fees have been hiked. As both of are working, they are completely dependent on the school bus for transportation of their child to school and back.

A school bus used for transporting school staff at Abhinav School in Ambegaon, is sanitised on Thursday. (Pratham Gokhale/HT Photo)

“Our daughter is in Class 3 and the school is 8km away from our house. In the pandemic, I lost my job and all our savings are about to finish. My wife is working, but we have to manage our monthly budget. Now our regular van driver has increased the fees from the earlier ₹600 to ₹1,000. We are already struggling to pay the school fees and now every month, these bus fees are also going to affect our budget,” said Shastri.

From December 16 onwards, schools in Pune city have been allowed to reopen for Classes 1 to 7, after consent from parents.

Another parent Archana Singh said, “Both my sons used to go to school by bus. Now when the school is re-opening we have been informed to pay ₹2,000 per student initially for school bus transportation and then every month fees will be taken. Earlier we used to pay ₹800 per month for one student. School bus fees are going to increase due to the fuel hike.”

Speaking anonymously, a principal of a prominent school in Pune said, “We have 20 school buses, but they have been parked for almost two years. Some have major repair works due as the vehicles not running for a long period. So obviously school bus fees are going to be increased from this academic year, looking at fuel hike prices.”

The school bus owner’s association is demanding proper guidelines to start services for students.Kiran Desai, executive president, Pune bus owners’ association said, “The state government had issued the guidelines in October, but they didn’t publish it for the public. Now when we have the guidelines, and one of the major issues is of transporting 50 per cent of children at one time. It is not profitable for any of the bus or van owners and also now only five months of school is left. So starting the bus service at this point is very difficult for us and financially it will affect on our business.”