Cyprus’s Transport, Communications and Works Ministry has reported isolated incidents of vandalism and damage to school buses in recent days, along with incidents of loud disruption and inappropriate behaviour by students. Such conduct endangers passengers and can force routes to be suspended, the Ministry warned.
These put all passengers at risk, above all the other students on board: throwing objects, verbally or physically harassing drivers, moving around the bus while it is in motion, smoking, and damaging seats or safety equipment. Similar incidents have occurred in previous school years, the Ministry added.
Bus damage disrupts the service directly: vehicles may need to come off the road for inspection and repair. Replacing them immediately is not always possible, given the limited number of buses and drivers available, the Ministry said. Where a route’s safe operation cannot be guaranteed, it said, temporarily suspending it is unavoidable until safe operation can resume.
The Ministry has appealed to parents, guardians and Parent Associations to actively help ensure students behave appropriately during their journeys. It is specifically asking them to remind children to stay in their seat for the whole journey; to respect the vehicle, the driver and their fellow passengers; and to report to the driver or the school any incident that puts their safety at risk. Responsible behaviour on public transport, it said, is part of preparing tomorrow’s citizens.
The Ministry stressed that these measures are not directed at conscientious students, who it said make up the vast majority, but are intended to protect them from behaviour that endangers their safety. Working with the Education, Sports and Youth Ministry, school administrations, parents and Parent Associations, it said every effort would be made to identify those responsible and restore affected routes as soon as possible.
Student safety has always been a top priority for the Ministry. For the 2026-2027 school year, it said it is intensifying checks and strictly enforcing the safety provisions of legislation and its contracts with transport providers, and before and after the start of the school year it carried out multiple inspections of buses used for student transport.
These inspections go significantly beyond what national legislation and provider contracts require, to ensure routes are served only by vehicles that fully meet safety requirements. It said it is applying the same strictness to breaches by providers or drivers.
Safety, however, does not depend solely on the technical condition of vehicles, the Ministry said, but equally on conditions inside them during journeys, and the Ministry said it won’t compromise there either.
The Ministry said it regrets the inconvenience caused to students and their families by route suspensions, and gave assurances that the safe transport of students is, and will remain, its foremost concern.
(Information from Cyprus News Agency)
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