Due to a shortage of drivers in pupil transport, Janos Adriaans is picked up hours late and also comes home hours late. It drives his father, Willem Adriaans, crazy. Janos’s days are far too long and he gets very restless.
A total of about 60,000 children use pupil transport in special education. They depend on pupil taxis to get to school. Due to a shortage of drivers, this does not always go well. “That scares me and that also angers me. After all, every child should be able to get to school safely. It causes stress for parents and children because the taxi comes late or does not come at all,” Education Minister Mariëlle Paul let out.
Hyperactive
Willem Adriaans has also talked about this. His son Janos is often late for school or late home. “In any case, never according to schedule. Sometimes they come much too early, sometimes much too late and he sometimes spends up to 2.5 hours in the van. The driver then has to pick up other children at other locations, and then my son just has to wait.” Meanwhile, Janos’ behaviour is starting to change. Adriaans: “He cannot concentrate, gets hyperactive and very restless; his teachers say so too. He is autistic and this is not doing much good. Janos benefits from regularity and predictability.”
Unfortunate incident
After weeks of waiting and being on the lookout, things went wrong on Friday morning. After arguing with the driver, Willem jumped onto the bonnet of the Connexxion van. The driver called 112 and the police had to come to the scene to calm things down. The transport company also regretted the incident. In a written response, the spokesperson says: “We are shocked that the situation with Janos has escalated like this. Planning colleagues are going to look again at whether Janos can be added to a fixed route with a fixed driver as soon as possible.”
Connexxion also reveals that it has asked the municipality for help in recruiting additional staff. This should eventually start bringing a structural change to the organisation of pupil transport.
Source: Studio040.nl
Translated by: Anitha Sevugan
