“That ICPA Qld lobbies that the relevant ministers allow Kindy aged children (3-5 year olds) to be recognised on their designated bus routes.”
Kindy aged children are currently not recognised on their bus routes and therefore not allocated a seat. Rural families are struggling to drive their children to Kindergarten without this service. Many rural bus drivers currently take Kindy children if they have room, but this is not always the case. In past years children have been unable to attend their regular enrolled days at Kindergarten because of this. We have also had eligible children not enrolled in the Kindergarten program because their families cannot drive them to town on a regular basis due to farm duties or distance.
Because Kindy children are not currently recognised on their bus runs, bus drivers are unwilling to collect children from the Kindergarten of an afternoon. This means it is the family’s responsibility to arrange for their child to be collected from Kindy and taken up to the bus at the local school. Recognising Kindy children on their bus routes will mean drivers can collect the children directly from Kindy in the afternoon. This will mean safer policies and procedures for both bus drivers and the Kindergarten. Bus drivers will also have appropriate insurance to cover children aged 3-5 years to catch their bus.
Kindergarten is currently free in Queensland and after speaking directly with families who have not enrolled or had to un-enrol their child from Kindergarten, they have said it is not because of the cost of the program but because they cannot commit to driving their child to Kindy 5 days a fortnight when bus runs have been full.
