APPROXIMATELY 7,000 students, who are on the Programme of Advancement through Health and Education (PATH) are to benefit from transportation subsidies being provided by the Ministry of Education and Youth at a cost of $380 million.

They are among 7,500 youngsters, largely residing in rural communities and enrolled in primary and secondary schools and two special education institutions across 13 parishes, who are being targeted for assistance under the ministry’s Rural Transportation Programme.

This was disclosed by acting director for Safety and Security in Schools Richard Troupe during a virtual town hall meeting on the full resumption of face-to-face classes on Friday.

Troupe said that under the programme, the ministry is seeking to engage the services of Jamaica Railway Service (JRC) and Jamaica Urban Transit Company Limited (JUTC) operating in sections of Clarendon, as well as the Montego Bay Metro Bus Company, and private bus operators.

He indicated that the subsidy arrangement will see students paying a fee of $70 to ride on the train and $30 when commuting on JUTC buses.

“For the passenger rail service, six St Catherine schools are engaged [and] roughly 850 children would have benefited from an access card. So while at this time we do not have brand new trains, we are still utilising technology to support us [for] a cashless service,” he said.

Troupe said the ministry is aware that in most rural parishes, the cost of transportation is significantly higher than the rates for urban centres. “That is… why the ministry would have conceptualised this programme that would have been ongoing for five years straight,” he said.