Students fear absence due to the bus – so now the janitor drives them

The summer holidays are over, and at Frederikssund Gymnasium, the school year begins with a new bus that will make everyday life easier for students coming from the neighbouring town of Slangerup.

They can therefore say goodbye to the Journey Planner and public transport and hop into a leased minibus that, with the school’s caretaker at the wheel, takes them to school in the morning and back again in the afternoon.

“I volunteered for the task myself, and I’m looking forward to it,” says caretaker Gorm Gad.

It is the school’s management that has decided to set up a bus service running between Frederikssund and Slangerup.

Anne Vedersø is principal of Frederikssund Gymnasium. (Photo: © Rasmus Flindt Pedersen, DR)

“I see that public transport affects the young people. They can be stressed if it’s difficult to get here, or if they miss their bus. I feel I have a responsibility to ensure they have a good everyday life,” says principal Anne Vedersø.

She believes there is a lack of predictability in public transport.

“The students don’t know if the bus routes will be changed, or if they’ll still be there next year, so it’s not a stable thing for them.”

Read also: A third of all regional bus services in Zealand risk being cut ( https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/en-tredjedel-af-hele-sjaellands-regionale-busdrift-risikerer-blive-sparet-vaek )

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Sleep or risk of absence?

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At Frederikssund Gymnasium, Gry Mørkøre Nielsen is looking forward to now taking the school’s minibus to and from school.

“It will be very nice and more reliable,” says the 18-year-old second-year student from Slangerup.

She has been fed up with public transport and has therefore often used another means of transport.

“There have been many days where I’ve said, ‘Mom, can’t you please drive me, because the Journey Planner just looks annoying?’”

17-year-old Carl Steven Hernandez Hally from Slangerup is also looking forward to it. He is in his second year of HF.

“I think it’s really great. It means I can sleep longer, and that I can count on the bus being there on time.”

Both students have experienced having absences recorded due to delays in public transport to the school in the morning.

“It’s just a bummer. The teachers say you have to take an earlier bus,” says Gry Mørkøre Nielsen.

Carl Steven Hernandez Hally and Gry Mørkøre Nielsen compare absence statistics on their mobile phones. They both live in Slangerup and attend Frederikssund Gymnasium. (Photo: © Rasmus Flindt Pedersen, DR)

Carl Steven Hernandez Hally has actually often done that to be on the safe side.

And if the bus then left on time, he has waited at school until the first lesson.

“It’s always been a hassle to figure out. Do I want a bit more sleep, or do I take the absence if the bus is delayed?”

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Barrier to education

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According to an expert, studies indicate that transport and distance play a significant role in young people’s choice of education and in completing it.

“It goes without saying that it takes willpower to complete an education if it’s difficult to get back and forth, and you have to spend a long time on it,” says Mette Pless, research leader at the National Centre for Vocational Pedagogy at the Copenhagen University College of Applied Sciences.

Transport options can thus become a barrier to obtaining a youth education and thereby a factor of inequality.

“It is clear that transport options alone are not what makes the difference, but it is a barrier that interacts with a number of other conditions.”

At Frederikssund Gymnasium, the principal is already considering whether the bus service should be expanded at some point, as students from Hornsherred typically have even greater transport distances.

“I want to try it out on a smaller scale first, so now we start in Slangerup and see what it does for our students’ well-being,” says Anne Vedersø.

DR News has been in contact with Movia, which handles bus operations in Zealand. The transport company refers to the fact that public transport options are a political priority.

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