In a bid to decrease school drop-outs, the Quezon City government on Wednesday urged the management of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) and the Light Railway Transit (LRT) to grant fare discounts to students to ease the financial woes of their families.

Mayor Herbert Bautista said that millions of students were forced to stop schooling primarily due to their family’s financial constraints forcing them to look for employment to finance their studies.

However, majority of the out-of-school youths are discouraged to pursue their studies as only a few percentage of the unemployed sector eventually land jobs while those who get hired were forced to accept minimum wage rates.

With the bleak economic scenario, Bautista appealed to the companies running the mass transport to grant the fare hike to the students to give them a greater chance of continuing with their education.

He suggested that a 20 percent discount from Mondays through Saturdays given by the MRT and LRT groups to legitimate students is fair enough to ease the financial burden of the riders while at the same time preventing the transport companies from going to bankruptcy.

"We appeal to the corporate social responsibility of the LRT and MRT, this discount will be a tremendous help for students and their parents. With the pending petitions for fare increases by various public transport groups, there is a looming threat of more difficulties for them,’’ Bautista noted.

Bautista said that the skyrocketing cost of living and education force many youth to dropout from school saying that a large percentage of them do not even finish their secondary education.

“All students should benefit from the fare discounts from the primary to tertiary levels. They are already saddled with so many expenses and this is one way that the private sector can directly help them,’’ Bautista.

At the same time, Councilor Jimmy Borres of the third district of Quezon City warned public utility vehicle drivers to grant fare discounts to students or face the possibility of unfavorable circumstances.

He issued the warning as mounting complaints of the drivers’ refusal to recognize the student fare discount have reached his office even in the first few days of the current school year.

The parents said that the children cannot avail of their fare discounts as tricycle and jeepney drivers insist on charging the students and pupils regular transportation rates.