According to the Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Slovenia, the fact that students are provided with the possibility of transportation to school with arrival only approximately two hours after the start of classes does not fulfil the requirement of Article 56 of the Elementary School Act (ZOsn) to provide free transportation to and from school. This also interferes with the child's right to education from Article 57 of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia and the right to equality before the law from Article 14 thereof. The competent municipality has not (yet) resolved the problem.

* * *

The parents of a student contacted the Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Slovenia (Ombudsman) and pointed out the difficulties in arranging free transportation to school for a child who was transferred to another school at the end of last school year.

In the matter, the Ombudsman made inquiries at the headquarters of the municipality where the family has registered residence, as well as at both schools and the Inspectorate of Education of the Republic of Slovenia (IRSŠ).

The municipality explained to the Ombudsman that the child is provided with school transport, namely in combination with public transport, which enables arrival at the place of school at 9.41 am. The municipality adds that they do not see the need to provide additional transportation, as other parents could then request the same.

The IRSŠ explained that while the school is the responsible entity in the inspection procedure of the schools inspectorate, it does not have the authority to make decisions on the rights of students to free school transport. According to Paragraph 4 of Article 56 of the Elementary School Act (ZOsn), the school agrees with the local community and parents on the method of transporting students to school. The method or form of this agreement is not specified in the school legislation. Even the method of transportation itself, which the school, local community, and parents should agree on, is not precisely defined. The IRSŠ also states that the schools inspectorate is not competent to supervise local communities that decide on the right to free transportation of primary school children, for which local community funds are specifically used. The IRSŠ also points out that the Local Self-Government Act a stipulates in Article 90 that the competent ministry must, when the municipality does not perform or in violation of the law performs a task defined by law under its original competence, notify the competent municipal body and propose to it the method of execution of each task and set a deadline. If the municipality does not act in accordance with the warning and proposal from the previous paragraph and the competent ministry determines that the municipality does not provide for the common needs and interests of its residents, and further that there may be harmful consequences for the life or health of people, for the natural or living environment or property, it must order the municipality to carry out the task by means of a decision. If the municipality does not execute the decision within the specified period, in accordance with the provisions of the law governing administrative enforcement, the ministry executes it instead.

The Ombudsman believes that the requirement of Article 56 of the Elementary School Act (ZOsn) to provide free transportation to and from school is not met by the fact that the student is provided with the possibility of transportation to school with arrival only approximately two hours after the start of classes (lessons start at different times, and the child also needs some time to get from the bus stop to school). This also interferes with the child's right to education from Article 57 of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia and the right to equality before the law from Article 14 thereof.

The Ombudsman conveyed the described problem to the MVI, which he expects, in accordance with the provisions of the Act on Local Self-Government, to initiate all the necessary procedures to regulate the issue of the transportation of a specific child, and at the same time to properly regulate the various issues in connection with which the Ombudsman perceives difficulties in the implementation of the provisions of Article 56 of the ZOsn, as it is obvious that the current legislation does not provide all the answers that are necessary for providing free transportation, and at the same time, it does not offer an efficient and fast way to provide transportation for a child who needs it.

The Ombudsman informed the complainants that they can consult with a lawyer or other legal expert about the possibilities of claiming compensation for the damage they might incur when they provide transportation to school for the child themselves, because the legally guaranteed free transportation is not provided. The Ombudsman does not have the authority to impose any obligations on the municipality; however, referring also to the provision of Article 3 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, he calls on the municipality to resolve the matter in the fastest possible way and actually provide the child with transport to school before using all available legal remedies available to the parents and the state.

In the specific case, the intervention of the Ombudsman was not successful; he concluded the consideration of the case with a formed opinion, but he continues to deal with various problems and questions that arise at the systemic level in relation to school transport. Unfortunately, the responsiveness of the MVI is poor. 19.1-72/2024