THREE more Heathcote parents have called on the Department of Education to end a bureaucratic mix-up that bans their children from catching a school bus to Bendigo.Dale Prosser, Shane Morris and Pam Wallace say their kids are finishing secondary school and studying trades at the Bendigo Technical Education Centre.But as revealed in the Bendigo Advertiser yesterday, the Department of Education considers them tertiary students despite their secondary studies, leaving them last on the department’s school bus priority list.Mr Morris said his son, David, was studying Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning courses at BTEC and wanted to become a plumber.He said up to 15 BTEC students from Heathcote were told without warning that they could no longer travel on the bus.“A fortnight ago the kids hopped off the bus and they were told they weren’t allowed to catch it anymore,” he said. “Luckily my wife is at home, so she can take him to school.”Dale Prosser’s daughter, Madeline, 16, is training to be a hairdresser and is completing her VCAL at BTEC.Without access to the school bus, Ms Prosser, who works early morning shifts, must wake Madeline before dawn and drop her off at a friend’s house so she can catch a normal bus service later in the morning.“She used to get the school bus when she went to Weeroona last year and it was OK,” Ms Prosser said.Pam Wallace said her son, Ethan Campbell, 16, was studying VCAL courses and hoped to become a diesel mechanic.“Last Thursday the bus driver told Ethan he couldn’t use the bus anymore,’’ Ms Wallace said.‘‘There was no letter or phone call. That’s what I’m angry about.“We had no idea he couldn’t catch the bus.‘‘I work in Heathcote and I can’t take him to school.”Department of Education Bendigo school bus co-ordinator Mandy Clayton yesterday told the Bendigo Advertiser that bus drivers had completed lists of eligible students needing a bus seat.This would determine if there were enough seats left for BTEC students.“We should know what’s happening at the end of the week,” she said.