Frederikssund Gymnasium has leased a minibus to drive students between Slangerup and the school, after pupils said unreliable public transport left them stressed and at risk of recorded absence.
The summer holiday is over, and the school year at Frederikssund Gymnasium in North Zealand has begun with a new transport arrangement. DR reports that the school has leased a minibus for students who live in the neighboring town of Slangerup.
The minibus takes the students to school in the morning and drives them home again in the afternoon. Behind the wheel is the gymnasium’s caretaker, Gorm Gad, who according to DR volunteered for the job.
The decision was made by the school’s management. Rektor Anne Vedersø said public transport affects young people, and that they can become stressed if it is difficult to get to school or if they miss their bus. She said she considers it her responsibility that students have a good everyday life.
Vedersø also pointed to a lack of predictability, saying students do not know whether bus routes will be changed or still exist the following year. She described the current setup as unstable for them.
Two students from Slangerup told DR they had been marked absent because of delays in public transport. Gry Mørkøre Nielsen, 18, who is in her second year, said she had often asked her mother to drive her instead. Carl Steven Hernandez Hally, 17, who is in his second year of HF, said the bus means he can sleep longer and better rely on arriving on time.
Hally said he had frequently taken an earlier bus to be on the safe side, and then waited at the school until his first class. Nielsen said teachers told students to take an earlier bus when they arrived late.
Transport as a barrier to education
Mette Pless, research leader at Nationalt Center for Erhvervspædagogik at Københavns Professionshøjskole, told DR that studies point to transport and distance playing a significant role in young people’s choice of education and in whether they complete it. She said completing an education requires willpower if travel is difficult and time-consuming.
According to Pless, transport options can become a barrier to obtaining an upper secondary education and thereby a factor in inequality. She added that transport alone is not decisive, but works together with a range of other conditions.
DR contacted Movia, which handles bus operations on Zealand. The company referred to public transport provision being a political prioritization. As stated by Region Sjælland, Movia runs bus and local rail services on behalf of regions and municipalities, with responsibility divided between the two levels of government.
At Frederikssund Gymnasium, Vedersø is already considering whether the arrangement should later be expanded. Students from Hornsherred typically face even longer travel distances, according to DR. She said the school wants to test the scheme on a smaller scale in Slangerup first and see what it does for student wellbeing.
