"GiraMais" is the name of the student social pass that began to be delivered this Thursday, at the Escola do Ensino Primário e Secundário Juventude in Luanda, allowing free access to public transport that circulates in the different municipalities.
The reduction in daily public transport costs was highlighted as the main advantage of using this card, which entitles public school students to 60 free trips per month, on the way from home to school and vice versa.
The process of issuing and delivering this social pass to students is in charge of the National Integrated Ticketing Company (ENBI), which this Thursday officially launched the initiative, attended by 12-year-old student Catiliana Domingos, one of the beneficiaries of the new card.
"For me it's very good because it will make it easier for me to travel in a taxi [private collective transport], I won't have to push around when getting up and it's much better," the student told Lusa.
The 7th grade student recalled the difficulties in accessing public transport or even taxis, also because money is often insufficient, pointing out only advantages with the free pass.
For student Camilo André Vieira, 14 years old, "GiraMais" came at a good time because from now on he will stop spending the 400 kwanzas on the daily journey he makes from his neighborhood, in the municipality of Cazenga, to Largos das Escolas, in the center of Luanda.
"For me, the pass means the school helped us, because I'm going to start coming by bus to save more money and to help my parents save more", said the student.
The need to improve services and increase the public transport fleet in Luanda was defended by student Edivaldo Francisco da Fonseca, 15 years old, who laments the daily flooding in buses that circulate in the country's capital.
Regarding the free pass, Edivaldo, a 9th grade student, said that it will bring advantages and should help students and many families with low resources to cover transport costs.
Maria Olímpia da Silva, in charge of education, who accompanied her daughter Catiliana Domingos to school and to register for access to the "GiraMais" card said that it came to make her life easier and reduce "daily hassles".
"I'm enjoying it because it will make getting a taxi a lot easier for me. It's been a hassle, I have three children, but only now have I managed to register one. I spend 1,300 kwanzas a day for the three of them and now this will minimize the amount I spend", she stressed.
The education officer also deplored the "terrible reality" of public transport in Luanda, marked daily by considerable flooding, asking operators for improvements, especially at this stage when more children must join the service.
"Because there is a lot of flooding, I would really like them to improve. Since they are now adding children, there would have to be seats reserved for minors", she asked.
To issue this social pass, each student, accompanied by their parent and/or guardian, presents their Identity Card or Personal Card, fills out a form, where they must indicate at least three routes on which they travel regularly, takes a photograph of the type of pass and then the respective pass is issued, a process that costs 1000 kwanzas.
At least 4,500 students registered in the ENBI database, assigned to the municipalities of Luanda, Cazenga, Cacuaco and Viana, should have access to their respective social passes this Thursday.
According to ENBI officials, the pass is exclusive and non-transferable and all operators with a badge from the National Integrated Ticketing Company, a public company, must transport students accredited for this purpose.
Philomene Carlos, director of the Provincial Education Office in Luanda, highlighted the importance of the social pass for students, noting that the first phase of issuance should benefit around 30 thousand students from the nine municipalities of Luanda.
"For students' mobility, this represents an advantage and for parents too, because they will have less spending on transport", she highlighted.
The director also defended the provision of more buses to transport students since, she noted, these means will not be used exclusively for transporting students.
"This will allow us not to have a shortage of students in schools, often due to parents' unavailability of financial resources", highlighted the person in charge.
