WITH STUDENTS GETTING FREE RIDES on Transport Board buses from September, school attendance across Barbados will be on the rise.

Minister of Family, Youth, Sports and Environment Dr Esther Byer-Suckoo made this prediction yesterday in the House of Assembly.

Contributing to the budget debate, she said that children no longer would have to stay at home because their parents cannot meet travel costs.

When he presented the 2008-09 national Budget last Monday, Prime Minister David Thompson announced the free rides for school children in uniform or with the appropriate ID.

Byer-Suckoo said a number of children throughout Barbados had to miss school "on a daily basis" or took turns going to school "because there isn't the money to send them to school".

On her ministry, she said it had been having a significant impact on families "but the progress has not been as rapid as we envisaged before we came into Government".

She told parliament her Government had inherited many problems in the ministry when it took over.

"In fact, even in the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Environment, where one would not expect to find a lot of corruption, we have had our fair share of it in the ministry as well," she admitted.

She spoke of "evidence of accounting irregularities" and "people billing for services not rendered".

She told parliamentarians: "We have situations where persons who are employed in the ministry are still providing services in their own private companies for the Government and billing the Government for those private services." (TY)