ROAD TRIPS
HOW CAN THE SCHOOL BUS SYSTEM BE IMPROVED?
Secondary schools in Singapore don’t provide school buses to send children to and from their homes. Should such a system be continued from the primary schools? Let us examine this issue.
Time to find their way
Secondary school students are at the age where they are able to take public buses by themselves. While it is understandable for concerned parents to clamour for the relative safety of school buses, it may also detract from the children’s overall development. When will they learn to navigate, to find their way around?
Financial burden
While primary schools usually end at a fixed timing, it is not so for secondary schools, which end at various timings across the levels. Upper secondary kids usually end later than the ones in lower secondary. It is therefore unfeasible to have buses provided for them, catering to everyone’s schedules.
The cost of freedom
Having school buses ensures that the kids go home directly after lessons. Having them take public transport can open up avenues for loitering at shopping centres, game arcades, etc. However, this can be mitigated if parents know the timetables of their children and put in some effort monitoring their movements.
Learning independence from a young age could stand them in good stead later on in life. With that in mind, it may not make much sense in continuing the school bus transport system from primary to secondary school.