Minister of Transport Daryl Vaz has described the soon-to-be implemented Rural School Transportation System (RSTS) as the most life-changing and far-reaching project in the sector since Jamaica gained independence 63 years ago

Addressing the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Vaz pointed to the benefits of the programme, which is expected to provide transportation access to an estimated 326,000 students across rural Jamaica.

“This…once implemented, will be a legacy that will not be forgotten based on the pain and the suffering and the frustration of rural parents and children everyday,” said Vaz.

He told the House that parents in rural Jamaica could save thousands of dollars on transportation costs annually once the RSTS is fully up and running.

“After considering the economic burden and the threat to safety of our students, we had to act. It is estimated that parents will save $180,000 per child per year. Some of them have two, three, four, and five children. Some of them decide which child they [are] going to choose as the best option and the other three, or four, or two, have to stay at home because it is downright unaffordable,” added Vaz.

He argued that households in rural Jamaica spend more than $17 billion annually on student transportation for primary and secondary education.

Vaz noted the disparity in transportation costs as he argued that students in rural Jamaica pay three to four times more than their counterparts in the Corporate Area and parts of St Catherine.

“Since the inception of the JUTC in 1998, approximately 27 years ago, the priority of successive Governments has been the transportation of urban passengers in the Kingston Metropolitan Region and sections of St Catherine…this cannot continue. Under this Andrew Holness led-Government this will not continue. Transportation, and in particular the transportation of students, must be equitable and affordable. Equal rights and justice has arrived for rural schools, students and parents,” Vaz said.

Noting that public passenger vehicles operators often refuse to transport students who pay half fare, Vaz argued that the additional 110 school buses — which will arrive on the island by July to service 258 rural schools — will result in having a dedicated service for school children, which is long overdue.

“What obtains now, when you go to a transport stop — whether the bus stop, whether the bus park, whether the transport centre in the morning and the evening — it is one thing that you hear, ‘no schoolas, no schoolas’. So they are immediately at a disadvantage in terms of getting transportation.

“Something had to be done to fix this and with the coming of the 110 rural school buses designated for students only, come September morning, and I am talking about this September 2025 morning, the tune is going to change to ‘schoolas only, schoolas only’. That is what the driver of the school bus is going to be saying,” added Vaz.

The transport minister noted that the Ministry of Education has expanded its school-feeding programme by $1 billion to include breakfast, and argued that this would be a waste of money if students in rural Jamaica cannot afford to attend school.

According to Vaz, the RSTS will ensure students can get to school regularly, on time, and in a state of mind to benefit from initiatives like the feeding programme.

In the meantime Opposition spokesman on finance Julian Robinson told the House that the People’s National Party (PNP) would have a different approach to solving what is a the real problem with transportation for children in rural Jamaica.

“Any attempt to deal with the problem that rural students face is a good thing, let me say that. Whether we have a different approach we can debate that but none of us, and I speak as an urban Member of Parliament, none of us can debate that we had a problem that needed to be addressed,” Robinson said.

He also raised concern about aspects of the system including the maintenance and custody of the school buses.