Children with disabilities have no transport to school. The Children's Rights Ombudsman responds

• There are no regulations related to ensuring mandatory free transport to school for some students with disabilities.
• Municipalities cite loopholes in the law and offer students reimbursement for public transport.
• RPD appeals to the Ministry of National Education to amend the regulations.

The Ombudsman for Children's Rights, Monika Horna-Cieślak, has asked the Ministry of National Education to urgently regulate the issue of transporting children and students with disabilities to educational institutions. It turns out that many parents have contacted the Ombudsman reporting difficulties in this area.

On the RPD website we read that "this concerns, among other things, the lack of: imposing on the authorities an obligation to provide information regarding the appeal procedure available to parents, regulations related to ensuring mandatory free transport to school for some secondary school students, e.g. students with mild intellectual disabilities or students with autism, including transport of students to vocational training who, due to their health condition, are unable to use public transport independently, and regulations directly specifying the qualifications that guardians of these children should have during transport."

Municipalities informed the Ombudsman that the regulations lack provisions that would oblige them to provide free transport to school for some secondary school students, e.g. students with mild intellectual disabilities or students with autism.

The answers provided to the Ombudsman also indicate that none of the mandatory provisions currently impose on municipalities the obligation to transport disabled secondary school students to vocational training.

- we read in the announcement.

So far, some municipalities have offered reimbursement of public transport costs, but - according to the RPD - this does not constitute support that secures their situation.

In accordance with the current legal status, the provisions in this area are regulated by Article 39, Section 4 of the Education Law. The Commissioner for Human Rights has asked the Ministry of National Education to analyze the indicated issues and provide its position on the matter.