Of 77,539 students eligible for the Government’s student E-ticketing services, 63,454 students, or 82 percent have redeemed their bus cards for Term One.
Last week in Parliament, while responding to an oral question, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Education Viliame Gavoka said the other 18 percent of the students have not redeemed their cards.
Gavoka said parents and guardians must ensure that the transport assistance application forms are submitted at school, which is verified and assessed by the Fiji Education Management Information System.
He said the 18 percent that have not redeemed may have been through the non-verification of student applications on the FEMIS factoring and an area of concern is the change of card due to loss or damage as the new card number information is not submitted to headquarters which in turn is unable to submit it to Vodafone for loading of funds.
Gavoka highlighted that the program began in 2018 with 56,728 students and at the end of 2023; there are now 71,203 students who are now using the e-ticketing services.
He added the assistance is for those whose family income is under $16,000.
