Parents say they are having to decide whether to pay bills or send their children to school as the cost of living crisis bites. A survey by a high school in Wales found families admitting their children are missing school because they can’t afford the bus in the cost of living crisis.
School transport is free for pupils who live three or more miles from school but many in the catchment for Llanishen High in Cardiff live just short of being eligible. Some parents said they face bus costs of nearly £600 a year and are having to decide which days their children can go to school.
The survey, sent out by Llanishen High as part of its work on attendance, asked parents living in the CF23 post code: “Has cost of school transport ever meant your child has not been able to get the school bus and has therefore missed school?”. It comes as head teachers warned parents across Wales are struggling with school costs and more than one in 10 pupils across Wales are still absent from school – way above pre-pandemic levels.
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Among the 70 responses several admitted their children have missed lessons because they can’t afford the bus. More than half, some of whom have more than one child at the school, said the cost of school transport is between £15 and £20 a week.
Parents were frustrated by the three mile cut-off for a free school bus pass, saying those living nearly three miles from school still faced a long walk. Some claimed walking routes were not safe and one said it took their child 50 minutes each way to walk.
Responding in detail about the struggle to get her child to school one parent told the survey: “I feel I am completely torn. I have no option but to send my daughter in the school bus as I’m unable to take her due to taking siblings to school. But at the same time I can’t afford it.
“On a regular basis I determine what lessons she has to decide if she can miss school. I had no alternative high schools as it’s our catchment area and the walking route provided by the council is unfit and unsafe to walk.
“Over the past month I have analysed what bills can be delayed in paying so my daughter can attend school. It’s soul-destroying.”
Another echoed this saying budgeting meant sometimes not sending her daughter to lessons: “It is a real struggle paying for my daughter’s bus fare. I am choosing whether to pay a bill or send my daughter to school. The walking route provided is dangerous.”
Other parents said their children have had to miss school regularly, often, or sometimes when they didn’t have money for the bus. Some said they encourage their children to walk or cycle but mentioned that can be affected by bad weather.
“I have had weeks where I haven’t been able to send the boys and therefore they missed lessons,” one parent responded, while another told the survey: “Yes, regularly miss school because cannot afford the bus.”
Others with one or more than one child at Llanishen High variously estimated travel was costing them £580 a year in bus passes, £30 a week, or £12 a day. “It’s hard to pay £6 for a meal and a bus. If two kids that’s £12 a day and it’s a real problem,” said one parent.
Another confirmed their children missing lessons saying on the survey. “Two children at £3 each a day is extremely expensive, especially when you are 0.1 miles out of the free bus catchment area.”
One parent said “as the cost of living rises” their child had missed school sometimes and it was “frustrating” to live one bus stop away from being eligible for a free school bus. Some said they free transport was more important than free school meals.
Parents also expressed frustration that some of the city’s schools are too crowded for their child to attend one closer to home. One said they live 2.9 miles from Llanishen High and their child’s walk to Llanishen takes them past two schools in catchment that didn’t have places.
Llanishen High head teacher Sarah Parry told WalesOnline she wanted a fair system that enabled all children to get to school. “We are mindful of the impact of the rising cost of living on our families and we are committed to collaborating with Welsh Government, with support from the local authority, to find a workable and fair solution that ensures that all learners can attend school to access their education.”
Llanishen High pupil Ruben Kelman, 14, who is Welsh Youth Parliament member for Cardiff North, was among delegates who took the survey findings to Cardiff Council. He is campaigning for universal free school transport. He said it was especially important, in light of low school attendance across Wales post-Covid, to remove any barriers to children getting to lessons.
Julie Morgan, MS for Cardiff North said: “The work that Ruben is doing as the Welsh Youth Parliament Member for Cardiff North is fantastic. He is taking up the issues that are affecting our young people every day and trying to make a positive change.
“I am taking forward Ruben’s proposals for universal free school transport with the education minister, Jeremy Miles MS, to see if there is any action that the Welsh Government can take. The cost of living crisis is hitting families hard and I commend Ruben for trying to find a way to ensure that all young people can afford to travel to school.”
The Welsh Government is responsible for decisions on free school transport with rules set out in the Learner Travel (Wales) Measure. At the moment children must pay for the bus if they live within two miles of their primary or three miles of secondary. A Welsh Government spokesman said “a detailed review” of the Learner Travel (Wales) Measure is due to take place “soon”.
Cardiff Council said it was working to help families most in need with £2,193,000 in Welsh Government funds allocated to help with the cost of living crisis.
A spokesman said : “The money has been allocated to Cardiff as part of the Welsh Government’s £25m discretionary cost-of-living scheme which allows local authorities to support households they consider in need of extra help with their living costs."
That sum is in addition to the £177m cost of living support scheme which saw qualifying eligible households across Wales receive a one-off £150 payment. A report on the discretionary scheme will be considered by the council’s cabinet this week and if approved will see a raft of measures introduced to help those most in need.
The council said it is aware of around 2,000 families receiving free school meals which were not eligible for the one-off £150 payment – which was mainly based on council tax bands. One of the measures cabinet will consider this week is paying these households, which missed out, the £150, a spokesman confirmed.
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