By Veena Bharwani

PARENTS have to pay school bus fees even during the month-long June and December school holidays.

So why can't school buses ferry their kids to school during the holidays when they have extra classes, asks a parent, Madam Noorjahan Ibrahim Kutty, 44.

Her daughter, Secondary 4 student Ayeshah Mirzha Alam Arif, 16, has been taking the bus from their Pasir Ris home to Tanjong Katong Girls' School (TKGS) since Sec 1.

Said Madam Noorjahan: 'Before this year, I have never asked the transport company for this added service.

'I have paid the fees for the holidays without question as I know they have to pay their drivers.

'But this year, my daughter has extra classes and examinations, so why can't the bus operator help since we have paid the fees?'

Madam Noorjahan, a housewife, said her daughter had to be in school by 7.15am on 1 Jun for the Malay O-Level written examination.

She also had extra classes during the first two weeks of the June holidays.

Madam Noorjahan said taking the school bus significantly decreases the travel time for Ayeshah.

Said Ayeshah: 'I take the school bus only one way and the journey takes half an hour. To come home, I have to take two public buses and it takes me 11/2 hours.'

For the past two weeks, her father took her to school before going to work.

Said Madam Noorjahan: 'This is inconvenient for him as he has to leave home at 6.45am to drop her off.'

Madam Noorjan's two other children, a 17-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl, have less of a problem as they go to school in Pasir Ris.

Another parent, who declined to be named, said: 'We just want the bus operators to provide us with services that we have paid for.'

The manager of Tanjong Katong Bus Company, Mr C K Chua, said some parents had asked for the added service during the holidays.

But he had to say no because school bus operators usually follow the Ministry of Education's official school term.

Said Mr Chua, who is in his 30s: 'We did receive a request from two or three parents, but we explained to them that this is how we have always done it in the past.'

He said Sec 3 students continued attending school for several weeks after the holidays started for Sec 1 and 2 students last year.

'We consulted the official timetable and still took the Sec 3 students to school. We just followed the rules.'

He added that it was not economical to run a 45-seater bus from Pasir Ris to TKGS for just two or three students.

He added that he even approached the school to highlight the issue.

When asked, TKGS vice-principal Marilyn Chia did not give details of how this particular issue was resolved.

In an e-mail response to The New Paper, Mrs Chia said the school was unable to reply on behalf of the bus company.

She would only say that the school shared the concern of parents with the bus company and advised that the bus company work out the best arrangement for the students.

Mrs Chia added: 'Early in the year, the school informed parents of the supplementary lessons conducted during the June holidays for the benefit of our Secondary 4 students.

'This was to enable parents to make the necessary transport arrangements for their children.'

School timetable

Another bus operator, Mr Lionel Lim of Bedok Transport, agreed that most school bus operators follow the school timetable closely.

However, when schools run extra activities outside the timetable, the bus operators sometimes consult the school and work out a special arrangement.

He added: 'School bus operators work very closely with schools on such matters.'

Mr Neo Tiam Beng, president of the Singapore School and Private Hire Bus Owners' Association, said bus operators have been getting such complaints and requests from parents for years.

Mr Neo, 42, said: 'We cannot make exceptions just for a handful of students. We are not a taxi company and you can't book us the way you book taxis.'

This article was first published in The New Paper.