In a report due to be given to the Scottish government in June, there were calls to make school trip travel free on Lothian buses. The report by Edinburgh’s child poverty action unit includes a list of strategies to reduce the number of children living in poverty, currently standing at 22%.
The cross-party action unit includes teachers, pupil support assistants, mental health and public health experts, housing officials, family support and social workers, as well as young people themselves.
Chairwoman of the group and the council’s Vice Education, Children and Families convener, Cllr Alison Dickie said, “Lothian buses would make my day if they would just provide those free bus fares for school trips. That would really help – the schools are saying it would be great. As a teacher, you take out your whole class on a bus to a museum, but some people don’t get to those museums. It’s coming out of school budgets so if those tickets were free, it would really free up a lot.”
