Bus passes may be scrapped for Crosby students

Feb 4 2010 Crosby Herald

TRAVEL passes which help Crosby students access further education in Sefton could be scrapped, the Herald can reveal.

Sefton Council is looking at axing the free passes, which help 1,000 post-16 students from the borough meet the cost of travelling to and from college.

Sixth form and college bosses fear the plans – being considered as part of a massive savings drive – could stop poorer students from accessing their college of choice.

One in five people in further education in the borough currently use the public transport cards, worth up to £500 to each student per year.

A tutor at one local college, who wished not to be named, called the move “a terrible idea”.

He said: “Education should not be elitist and it is entirely right that help should be given to students if it means that they would otherwise not be able to go into further education.

“The concern is that without this scheme that students will either be unable to afford college travelling costs, or will be unable to meet the cost of getting to their preferred college.

“There are vocational courses in Southport that are not available down in Bootle and it would be a shame if students were priced out of studying what they want to study.”

Under the plans, students who live more than three miles from their sixth form or college would retain their cards until next year, but the transport pass would not be available to those enrolling on post-16 courses starting in September.

Some students would still receive the passes “in exceptional cases”.

At South Sefton Sixth Form College in Litherland hundreds qualify for the pass, which can be used on local buses and trains. Many are from the Crosby and Waterloo area.

Principal Laetitia Shemilt said she would be against the scheme being pulled.

She said: “Any decision that could affect young people and their ability to get the highest quality education would seem to be very short-sighted.”