Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced yesterday $26 million in funding over four years will bring rural school bus drivers' wages in line with those who drive for comparable public transport services.
The funding will be available from the start of the 2023 school year and operators will be required to opt-in.
They must agree to pass this increase and any subsequent funding increases on to their drivers.
"Around 100,000 students receive school transport assistance from the Ministry of Education, particularly in rural parts of the country," Mr Hipkins said.
"For many students and families, assistance with transport to school is vital, and school bus drivers are essential to getting children to and from school safely."
Mr Hipkins admitted driver availability tended not to be an issue for rural school buses but the Government wanted to ensure that remained the case.
Dunedin Tramways Union president Alan Savell said the increase was great and was a boost for another sector of bus drivers.
Mr Savell said the rural bus drivers deserved the increase as there was no difference in skills.
"A bus is a bus. Just because you are carrying school children in a rural area does not bring any less value to the job," he said.
Total hours served by rural school bus drivers were not huge and a lot of the drivers were of retirement age.
He said the argument that the drivers were of an older age and would do the job anyway without a raise just did not stand up.
"Every job has an element of community benefit in it. Why should they not be compensated for doing that?
"We all want to have a feeling of worth, a feeling of being valued."
He did not know how many rural bus drivers there were in the South but they did a great job. He said having the announcement before Christmas was a early present for the drivers.
