SINGAPORE – The Ministry of Education (MOE) has informed schools to “reasonably consider” requests from private bus operators to increase fares paid by schools for external activities such as field trips and competitions, in view of higher fuel costs.
This is to ensure that school operations and the students’ learning experiences will not be adversely affected, the ministry told The Straits Times late on April 15.
Unlike regular school bus services, which parents pay for, ad hoc trips for competitions, learning journeys and other external school activities are funded directly by schools. The costs for these trips are typically locked in by contracts, which operators can now seek to revise.
To help bus operators with higher fuel prices for regular school services, MOE had earlier announced temporary funding amounting to 13 per cent of fare revenue from April to June. This does not extend to ad hoc trips.
As at April 16, diesel is priced at $4.68 a litre at most major retailers, according to the Consumers Association of Singapore’s Price Kaki app. This is up from around $2.50 a litre in late February, when the Iran war began.
Depending on factors such as timing, type of bus needed and distance, a two-way ad hoc school trip is now priced at between $100 and $200.
On April 14, the Singapore School Transport Association (SSTA), which represents more than 40 bus companies, informed its members that they can approach schools to request adjustments to their ad hoc bus contracts.
