Education Minister Rodolphe Samuel’s school bus card when he was a student at Milton Peters college (MPC) four decades ago.
PHILIPSBURG--Parents have until Thursday, August 12, to register their children to obtain a school bus pass, which will enable them to use the school bus to be transported to and from school during the upcoming academic year. Registration can be done online by visiting: www.sintmaartengov.org/registerandride.
Nothing will change in terms of students gaining access to school busses when school reopens this Monday, however, registration is needed and the cards will be processed for eventual introduction.
Education Minister Rodolphe Samuel told reporters on Wednesday that some 200 persons had registered within the first 24 hours after the online registration system opened on Monday, August 2.
The reintroduction of the cards for the new academic year is part of a process that government is undertaking to introduce a new school bussing policy to enhance the quality of the service for students who need to use the bus service provided by government, to get to and from school.
Samuel said the new policy requires all students using the school bus to register to obtain a school bus pass to ride on the school bus. All students and parents are urged to visit the website: www.sintmaartengov.org/registerandride for more information, and to register students to ride on the school bus for the 2021-2022 school year.
The service is free and all students who desire to make use of the government school bus service will have access to the school bus when the school year starts on Monday, Samuel said.
“However, all students who need to use the service must have registered by August 12, in order to obtain a school bus pass by September 2021. When registering, parents and guardians are expected to provide identification of the child/children, their identification and a picture that can be used on the School Bus Pass.”
Samuel said school bus operators were informed of the planned changes during a meeting held on Friday, July 23. School boards, school management and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports will be meeting to discuss details regarding the further implementation of the re-introduction of the School Bus Cards.
The implementation of the new school bussing policy is a collaboration amongst the Ministry of ECYS, Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transportation and Telecommunications (TEATT), and the Departments of Communication (DCOMM) and Information Communication Technology (ICT) of the Ministry of General Affairs.
