Students and parents were praised last night after they battled against the odds to make it to school on time yesterday.

Schools said the majority of students managed to get in on time, despite the public transport strike which brought the rush hour roads to a standstill.

And to make matters worse, some students live in the East End of the Island and have been facing ongoing problems since Hurricane Fabian hit almost two weeks ago - leaving heavy congestion at the Causeway.

But while all schools praised their students yesterday, the principal of Mount St. Agnes Academy had stern words for the hundreds of Bermuda Industrial Union members who walked out of their jobs on Tuesday afternoon and yesterday.

Sister Judith Rollo said not only were students faced with transport difficulties yesterday, but four grade classes were stranded on Tuesday afternoon because the school was due to finish at 2 p.m. and there were no buses.

"People's nerves were frayed to begin with due to the hurricane, electricity and transport difficulties, but this yesterday just made matters worse," said Sister Judith.

"This is an Island where people are trying to recover. I know someone said something to the effect that `when something is not right we have to stand up to it', but there are ways to go about it.

"I am very upset. I am all for workers' rights, and I'm not saying they don't have reasons, but if you have a grievance, there are procedures in place. Two wrongs don't make a right."

And she criticised the strikers for marching through the streets yesterday, past her school, with drums banging again disrupting her students.

She added: "Our most important resource on this Island are our children, yet it seems they are always the ones to suffer."

However, Sister Judith said parents and students made every effort to make it in on time, but those students who did get caught up in traffic and were late were not reprimanded.

She added: "This morning, we did have a number of students that were late. We have a strict policy on punctuality, however, this week we have said we will make more allowances."

Berkeley Institute principal Michelle Gabisi said she, too, also had students turning up late, but said they could not be criticised under the circumstances.

"We had our students here today, and some of them were here bright and early, and we really had no significant drop in attendance from the day before," said the head teacher.

"We had a few less, but most people were here, and we did have some latecomers. But we took into consideration the fact that people were coming under rather unusual circumstances and we have excused the late arrivals.

"I'm proud of my students. I had them together at the end of the day to say to them that they had shown the true spirit of Berkeley Institute."

And principal of Bermuda High School for Girls Roy Napier said while some of his students also experienced problems, they still turned out and late comers were not reprimanded.

He added: "There was no major difficulty for us because I think most of our parents delivered their youngsters or made car pool arrangements. There were a few late, but not in large numbers.

"We have been quite sympathetic during the last few days since the hurricane and have been making allowances for it."

Government last night said the Island's public schools were not severely affected by the industrial action.

A spokesman said: "The Ministry of Education and Development attributed this good turnout among students to the stalwart efforts of parents and guardians.

"Quite understandably, some students attending East End schools, such as Clearwater Middle School and Francis Patton Primary, were not able to attend due to difficulties in traversing the Causeway."