Next school year, the Flemish public transport company De Lijn will cut 204 bus routes for student transportation to special education schools, according to several media. De Lijn confirms that routes will be eliminated, but has not yet provided a specific number.
The cuts are being made because Flemish Minister of Mobility Annick De Ridder (N-VA) wants the transit company to stay within its 139-million-euro budget for the upcoming school year.
The elimination or consolidation of routes will inevitably lead to longer travel times and, in some cases, centralized boarding locations. There is no doubt that this measure, which involves budget cuts affecting vulnerable children, is politically sensitive.
Flanders cannot find 11 million euros
According to De Lijn, every student would still be able to take the bus to school, even if their route is discontinued. However, some trips would take longer, and it would no longer be possible to guarantee that a single trip would take no more than 90 minutes.
De Lijn is also considering no longer picking up every student at home, but instead relying more on central boarding locations.
De Lijn receives 139 million euros annually from the Flemish government to organize student transportation to special education schools, but that budget is not sufficient. Every year, De Lijn must draw about 11 million euros from its regular bus transportation budget to cover the shortfall.
1 driver for every 21 students
There are more than 53,500 students in special education in Flanders, and that number is growing year after year. Due to the increasing number of students and capacity issues, many are forced to choose a school far from home.
More than 45,000 of them take the bus to school. To accommodate them, approximately 2,100 drivers are on the road every morning. De Lijn sets the routes and establishes quality standards, but the actual bus transport is largely outsourced to private bus companies, minibus operators, and taxi companies.
“This is not the right way to handle this”
The fact that Flanders is struggling to resolve a mobility issue – one that in other countries is deliberately addressed at the local level with tailored solutions – while at the same time cutting funding for vulnerable children naturally touches on political sensitivities.
“In a rich and prosperous region like Flanders, we cannot accept that vulnerable students bear the brunt of political decisions,” says Flemish Member of Parliament Jasper Pillen (Anders). “High-quality student transportation is not a luxury, but a basic requirement for giving these students every opportunity.”
The Vooruit party is also calling for a serious reform of student transportation. “Regardless of which minister is in charge, a serious reform – one that goes beyond mere cost-cutting – must be implemented quickly for these students and their parents. And, for the staff, who are currently living in uncertainty. Things cannot go on like this,” says Els Robeyns.
Finally, coalition party CD&V is calling on the relevant ministers to provide clarity on the final agreements as soon as possible. “Children in special education deserve better than the way they’ve been treated over the past months – and years,” says Flemish Member of Parliament An Christiaens. “Simply cutting programs on an ad hoc basis without knowing the exact impact on families and without structural measures is not the right way to address this.”
Tensions between cabinets
The fact that the issue of student transportation in special education has been at a complete standstill for months must also be viewed against the backdrop of the political power shift in Flanders. For decades, education and welfare were CVP/CD&V strongholds, but the N-VA has structurally displaced the CD&V as the dominant Flemish center-right party.
What makes this particularly interesting, or painful, is that the core of the problem can also be traced back to tensions between two N-VA cabinets.
When the Flemish government took office, it was apparently agreed that student transportation would be transferred to the Department of Education.
However, the current Minister of Education, Zuhal Demir, is in no way willing to take over this responsibility from her party colleague and Minister of Mobility, Annick De Ridder, because, as she herself states, she is being given a smaller budget to resolve the transportation issue and a problem case.
The fact that these budget cuts are being implemented against the backdrop of a fatal accident in Buggenhout, which exposed glaring gaps in the school transportation system, makes the whole situation even more uncomfortable.
