Would any sane parent entrust his or her child to a drunk driver for the morning trip to school? City schools are increasingly coming under fire for charging exorbitant amounts in the name of transportation while failing to put in place a system to ensure children’s safety. Drunk drivers behind wheels, the lackadaisical attitude in installing CCTV cameras and GPS in buses and lack of women attenders are just a few issues that have come to the fore. The inevitable question arises: Will our kids ever be safe in these vans and buses if school managements continue to ignore the guidelines put forth by the Supreme Court?
They are well reputed and are counted among the city’s elite schools. And so it was quite a shock for parents of students of the DPS, Jain Heritage, New Horizon and Narayana E-Techno schools to learn that their children may not be as safe as they thought they were when being transported in their buses to and from the institutions .
To the dismay of parents, the traffic police has booked the school bus drivers of these elite institutions for transporting students while under the influence of alcohol. Even worse, the drivers were caught after they were involved in minor accidents while ferrying the students.
The traffic police, which has intensified its drive against drunk driving over the last week, says most of the school bus drivers booked worked for elite schools. “We were surprised to see them driving under the influence of alcohol while carrying students in their buses. When city roads are already notorious for accidents, it is shocking to see these drivers and school managements playing with the lives of children,” said an officer, who was part of the drive.
Some of those booked, however, were not employed directly by the schools but were independent drivers, according to the police. “Even the schools cannot initiate action against them. The government needs to come out with special rules for such drivers,” said a traffic policeman.
One angry parent, Shrikanth Samaga, believes it is time to take action against the school managements responsible for employing untrustworthy drivers and putting the lives of children at risk.
“The police caught these school van drivers after they were involved in minor accidents. What if they were involved in a bigger accident and students were injured? Who would be responsible? The government must take strict action. Merely seizing the school vehicle or arresting the drivers will not solve anything. The school managements must be held responsible,” he insisted.
Read | Guest column: Schools should be responsible for children safety
Activist, Suresh B Goudar, too feels schools have let down parents and the students in their care. “How come such elite schools have employed drivers without doing enough background checks on them?” he asked pertinently, suggesting that all schools should make sure their drivers undergo a breath analyser test before letting them out on the roads.
“A large number of those travelling in school buses are girls. What if a driver misbehaves with one of them while drunk?” he demanded.
But there’s more. Besides employing unfit drivers, many schools haven’t bothered to install CCTVs inside the school buses as they are required to. “Going by the instructions of the transport department, Department of Public Instruction (DPI) and the city police, CCTVs are a must in school vans. But most schools haven’t bothered to install them. When we randomly inspected the vans we also found they had no GPS or women staff on board as required. We have issued advisories to all the schools concerned,” said an officer.
Skilled drivers unwilling to ferry children
While the school principals contacted by Deccan Chronicle acknowledged there was no excuse for allowing drunk drivers to ferry children in their buses, they claimed they were hamstrung by a shortage of drivers and demands for huge salaries by those, who did come forward to drive the school buses.
“Many of the drivers demand salaries of upto Rs 25,000 a month, which we cannot afford. Even teachers are not paid that much,” said one school head.
Although a school van driver must have at least five years experience under government regulations, managements say they find it hard to stick to this criteria owing to a shortage of drivers.
“We are facing an acute shortage of skilled drivers today as not many are willing to transport children to school, seeing this as too risky. So at the end of the day, we have to make do with these drivers, who are a problem and bring shame to our institutions,” rued one school principal.
Over 1,500 school vehicles booked
The city traffic police continued the special drive against school vehicles and booked two drivers for drunk and driving on Thursday. The R. T. Nagar traffic police booked Sheik Mushtaq, 43, the driver of bus attached to Vivekananda School in Yelahanka, when they stopped the vehicle near the CBI Junction. He was found drunk and his alcohol level was beyond permissible limit. The vehicle was seized.
In another incident, the Byatarayanapura traffic police booked Bili Gowda, 50, the driver of a van belonging to Jain Heritage School for a similar offence. The police at Nayandahalli Junction found the van being driven in a rash and negligent manner and stopped it to find the driver in an inebriated state. More than 1,500 cases were booked against school vehicles on Thursday.
Wake up and take necessary action
Despite the traffic police pointing out a number of lapses by school managements in running their student buses, neither the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) nor the transport department has taken any action against them.
DPI officials wash their hands off the matter saying a set of transport guidelines has been forwarded to schools on the orders of the Supreme Court and they are expected to follow them. “We can only issue notices to them if they don’t fall in line as the guidelines don’t say what action can be taken against them,” said a DPI officer, adding that in the circumstances it was left to the police to take them to task.
“Also, as the schools which have come under fire during this drive against drunk driving belong to either the CBSE or ICSE stream, their respective boards should monitor them,” he added.
Mr. Ramu Shetty, an advocate, suggests the state government should take action both against the school managements and their drivers as the Supreme Court has made it clear the institutions are expected to take the utmost care when transporting children.
School bus safety guidelines
- No vehicle shall carry children in excess of its permitted seating capacity
- There must be a first-aid box and drinking water in the vehicle
- Seat belts, wherever applicable, must be fastened properly
- The school name and telephone number must be displayed
- Every vehicle carrying school children must be driven by a driver, who has at least four years experience
- Attendants must be present to help students get in and get out of school van
- School buses must be fitted with speed governors with a maximum speed limit of 40 kmph.
- The school bus must be painted in a highway yellow colour and have a horizontal green strip of 150 mm width running through the middle all round it
- The words School Cab must be prominently displayed on all four sides
- It must have enough space for school bags
- The crew members must have a complete list of school children with their contact details
