In light of the difficulties faced by many parents in sending their children to school, ECREA is putting together a petition to revoke the bus fare increase.

This has been confirmed by ECREA's Director Chantelle Khan who said they are currently in the process of putting together the petition and are hoping to get at least 20,000 signatures before presenting it to government and other stakeholders, by the end of the week.

When asked by Fijivillage, if the solution to the problem is to ask parents to send their children to schools closer to home, Khan said the only solution will be to remove the increase itself.

The LTA Chief Executive Etuate Koroi said they are currently having discussions with all the concerned parties to come to a consensus on the fares for school children.

Earlier, the Consumer Council of Fiji Chief Executive Premila Kumar when asked the same question, encouraged parents to follow the examples of our island neighbours New Zealand and send their children to schools closer to home, adding money usually spent on busfares can be used elsewhere.

It has been highlighted that in some schools in Suva, children who are living outside Suva are not attending school everyday due to increased bus fares.