Unregistered vehicles playing with lives of Gurugram school children

Gurugram: The safety of students travelling in school buses was again raised after a school bus crashed with a tree on Monday in Pataudi. The tragic incident resulted in 16 children getting injured in the incident. The initial inquiry has revealed that the bus did not have speed governor. Moreover, the school was not registered by the department of education. The incident again revealed the dangers of unregistered schools which are flouting the rules, especially in the movement of children.

There are over 200 unlicensed schools that are functional in the city for long. It has been alleged by education activists and aggrieved parents that the district administration has not penalized these unlicensed schools though some of them are operational since 2007. Even though there have been periodic checks by the public authorities, most of the school buses in order to cut costs compromise on the safety guidelines thus putting the safety of students in peril.

According to transport coordinators working in the schools, a 37-seat school bus costs Rs16 lakh that only increases further with other amenities. In the past, a campaign launched by Regional Transport Authority (RTA) for safe transportation of school students seems to have lost steam as students continue to be ferried in an unsafe manner.

The key parameters of the directives were the identification of the school transport vehicle through yellow and blue paint, installation of speed governors and CCTV cameras and not filling the vehicle with students beyond capacity. Further, most of the school buses are using juveniles to drive the buses.

There have been situations where the public authorities have fined the school buses for flouting the rules but the grievances of unsafe commuting for students remain.

With most of the private schools charging an exorbitant sum for school transportation, most of the parents are forced to take the services of private forms of transport like cabs and auto for their children. Even after the announcement by the public agency to rein in the modes of transport, school students continue to be filled beyond capacity.