KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is welcoming media reports that, one year after its full roll-out, the National Rural School Bus Programme is getting high marks from school administrators, educators, and students who say it has largely delivered on its promise to make transportation safer, more affordable, and more reliable for thousands of students.

In a statement on Monday, the JLP cited reports quoting school administrators, educators, and students who described the impact of the school bus programme as transformational and “tremendous”.

“The Rural School Bus system is part of the Jamaica Labour Party Government’s commitment to delivering safer, dependable, and more affordable transportation for our students,” said Communication Chairman, Senator Abka Fitz-Henley.

“The feedback in the publication in the print media today from school administrators, students, and parents that the programme is working well and has been tremendously beneficial to them, is encouraging. Even as work continues to take place to improve the Rural School Bus initiative, commendations are due to Minister [Daryl] Vaz, who championed this initiative, and indeed to the Cabinet of Prime Minister [Andrew] Holness, which signed off on the programme,” he added.

Fitz Henley noted that the programme is evidence that the Government is prepared to not just talk about creating safer and more affordable transportation for our students but is willing to act and deliver on that conviction and policy position.

He stressed that the positive reviews from stakeholders about the programme and the high marks given are yet another reminder that partisan politics must be avoided when treating with issues concerning our nation’s children.

“One of the low points of last year was when the Opposition PNP, including its president, Mark Golding, and spokesmen, Peter Bunting, and Mikhail Phillips, took to the political platform to lambaste the Rural School Bus programme,” he said.

The senator added that “Bunting and Golding denigrated the buses as old and sought to scare-monger by baselessly claiming that the buses are dangerous and would kill our children. That was unfortunate rhetoric from the Opposition. The fact is that Minister Vaz and his team did the appropriate research, and the programme has enumerated to the benefit of important stakeholders, including students and parents.”

He noted that then experiences articulated by education stakeholders have re-confirmed that the buses are not only cost-effective but also a safe mode of transportation. “Hopefully, going forward, it may be properly understood that baseless political rhetoric has no place in the conversation concerning our nation’s children and the parents, guardians, and educators who support them,” he said.

He noted that the Rural School Bus programme serves more than 13,000 students daily across 352 schools on 86 routes, using a fleet of 110 buses.