Ritika Pratap 
The Education Ministry has paid Vodafone Fiji Limited the difference in bus fares as per the new rates that came into effect on September 1st.
This has been confirmed by Permanent Secretary for Education Selina Kuruleca.
Kuruleca says the Ministry’s hardworking team has worked through the necessary financial and legal processes to ensure that they honor the timely payment of the difference in fares.
She says as agreed between the stakeholders, this will be done at the end of each month to Vodafone Fiji.
Kuruleca is assuring parents, guardians and children, that only after the reconciliation of number of taps for both the blue and the yellow bus cards is completed, the payment was made.
She stresses that when the new fares came into effect in September, the verified reconciliation records was sent to MoE in the first week of October.
She highlights that following further verification processes within MoE guidelines, the payments for difference in fares was completed on October 15.
Kuruleca adds that as they move forward, they will continue to work with all our stakeholders to improve our operations.
As of Tuesday 10th September 2024 103,321 students were assisted through the Transport Assistance Program.
There are 62,988 students who are provided with e-transport assistance on the Blue subsidized cards, whilst there are 40,333 for RSL transport assistance.
The top up of blue subsidised cards by eligible Blue Card holders for Term 3 2024 was open from 3rd September 2024.
