11 new bus attendants in the 2025/2026 school year

In June, eleven pupils from year 8 at Euregio-Gymnasium, Mariengymnasium, Gesamtschule Bocholt and Hohe-Giethorst-Schule were trained as bus attendants. In the 2025/2026 school year, a total of 45 young people are now volunteering as part of the project.

The two-day training programme took place at Café Karton under the direction of social education worker Julia Berg and Detective Superintendent Michael Wanning from the Crime Prevention/Victim Protection Department. The pupils were trained in the areas of communication, de-escalation and dispute resolution. Among other things, role plays were used to draw attention to conflict situations on the school bus in order to then work out solutions together.

The bus attendants act as a point of contact for all passengers and drivers and are also tasked with calming conflicts, settling disputes and ensuring that the school bus runs as smoothly as possible. They carry a badge so that everyone can recognise them as bus attendants.

On 29 August, the new bus attendants received their certificates, ID cards and a small thank you: "We would like to thank you very much for your voluntary commitment - for being willing to take on this important task", said Jonas Bühs, Head of the Schools Division at the City of Bocholt.

20 years of the bus attendant project

In the 2005/2006 school year, the idea was born to deploy pupils as bus attendants on school buses in order to counteract complaints in connection with school bus transport. In June 2006, young people from Years 8 and 9 were trained for the first time as part of the bus attendant project.

Just six months after the start of the programme on four different bus routes, feedback clearly showed a need for more bus attendants on additional routes. Over 200 pupils have already been trained since the start of the project.

Co-operation partners

The project is supported by: Hohe-Giethorst-Schule, Euregiogymnasium, Gesamtschule Bocholt, Mariengymnasium, Kreispolizei Borken, DEKRA GmbH, Stadtbus Bocholt GmbH, Westfalen Bus GmbH, Busverkehr Rheinland GmbH, Niederrheinische Verkehrsbetriebe AG, Café Karton (school café) and the city of Bocholt. DEKRA bears the costs for the speaker and the keyholders of the ID cards.