Regular readers of this column will be not be surprised by our firm support of the call made last week by Vere Technical High School Principal Mr O’Neil Lewin for a school bus system to keep his students safe.

The issue is one that we will never tire of highlighting until it becomes a reality, because we have seen too many schoolchildren, particularly in rural Jamaica, being included in the island’s road fatality statistics.

Mr Lewin made the call after two of his students were victims of road crashes last Tuesday.

In the first incident, a student was standing by the sidewalk when she was hit by a taxi that pushed her into a drain. The taxi driver, Principal Lewin said, took the child to hospital, where she was treated and released without any serious injuries.

The second child, 11-year-old Marla Richards, was not that lucky. She died from injuries received when she was hit by a vehicle as she attempted to cross a street to get home.

Now, her family, friends, neighbours, and the school community are left to mourn a life taken at such a young age. Another child denied the opportunity to fulfil her dreams and, possibly, make a meaningful contribution to her country.

It was just four months ago that the nation experienced the gut-wrenching pain of losing two Titchfield High School students when a taxi collided with a parked truck.

Injury and death are always traumatising, but they become especially difficult to handle when the victims are the very young.

As we have pointed out before, for decades, such incidents have consistently triggered a renewing of appeals for a formal school bus system
— especially in rural Jamaica
— provided by properly trained, supervised, and accountable drivers.

Readers will recall that Jamaica Teachers’ Association Immediate Past President Mr Leighton Johnson has repeatedly called for such a system, and last year, after being assigned the transport portfolio, Mr Daryl Vaz, the Member of Parliament for Portland Western, promised to give priority to the implementation of a safe, secure, efficient bus system for rural students.

In June this year Minister Vaz, who is well known as a dedicated, energetic legislator, told us in his contribution to the sectoral debate that the Government is looking at implementing a Rural School Transportation System on a phased basis.

The consideration, he explained, went beyond safety, as the service is projected to be reliable, efficient, and affordable.

According to Mr Vaz, “[T]he ministry acknowledges the hardships faced by our citizens in rural parishes across the island and is currently engaged in determining a mechanism to bring some relief to the cost of commute with specific reference to students in the first instance. The intention is to cause a significant reduction in the cost of transportation in rural areas, again reducing their misery index.”

Mr Vaz also said the State estimates that households in rural Jamaica spend more than $8 billion annually for transportation for students to access primary and secondary education. The planned service, he noted, will cost an estimated $10.62 billion annually. He also said that implementation of the system is expected to be private sector-driven as the cost is not sustainable for the Government.

How the Administration will get such a system funded is yet to be seen, but we take Mr Vaz at his word that he “will not rest until this Rural School Transportation System is up and running”.