"The traffic in Bilbao is broken when classes start, until then we worked well, but when children's buses start, it's over," a taxi driver told me in September, years ago, and I've never forgotten it. After years of working in public schools, I have walked by bus with the children: an annual excursion, once a week to the swimming pools... I also knew about the daily transport of a school, because some students had more than two kilometres of house to the nearest model D, but it has always been an exception to the transport of children by public schools, as the Department of Education has set very strict (sometimes too strict) conditions for this. However, the taxi driver was right, in traffic it is clear when children are installed in the rooms because of buses. Indeed, they are better off on buses than on individual cars. It's better for children to go alone than each to go with an adult, we agree. Bus
"Why do we need so much school transportation? Where will they go? I will tell you: Thousands of students go every day to private centers that are not close to home in the CAV"
inside there are security measures, it is true: straps, educator... But why do we need so much school transportation? Where will they go? I'll tell you: thousands of students go every day to private centers not close to home at the CAV. Most of these centres are concerted, so they should be subject to zoning, but not. Every day, at least 33 buses in Álava, 81 in Gipuzkoa and 358 in Bizkaia transport children from Infantil y Primer (2 to 13 years) to concerted centres, with a minimum of 82 in Bilbao. Many of these centers are located in urban centers.
Having to sit one or two hours a day on the bus does not seem very nice for those inside, as well as for others, having the streets full of traffic and pollution when going to school every day is very bad, finding the sidewalks hindered by those waiting for buses is an abuse, let's say nothing of squandering energy, shouldn't we hesitate to promote it with public money?
The LOMLOE itself refers to sustainability, to the healthy relationship with the nearby environment and to the broad educational communities in very elegant paragraphs of Article 110, so that, as long as we do not achieve the ability to write our laws, we can put strength and confidence in Change U30 and similar initiatives and, of course, strengthen the Basque Public School. Everyone will win.
* Arantza Fernández de Garaialde is a member of the platform for the Basque Public School of Bilbao (EBEP)