It’s not uncommon to see children spilling out of autorickshaws and stuffed in mini vans on school mornings. And it certainly isn’t oblivious to those who need to stand up and take corrective measures as opposed to waiting for a tragedy to occur. But when the time to shoulder responsibility draws in, who, really is answerable?

Despite many schools in the City offering their own transport facility, quite a large segment of the parents choose private transport to ferry their children to school and back. And it’s not always because parents turn a blind eye to the issue but mostly because there isn’t really another choice. “The school transport does not ply up till where we reside, so we had to opt for a private school van. And they will always try and accommodate the maximum number of children despite our repeated warnings. But there is really nothing much one can do when we are dependent on them,” says Suparna Joshi, parent of an eight-year-old studying at Kendriya Vidyalaya.

The same was the case with Chitra Kumar until she decided to switch over to the school transport. “For a year, we sent our daughter by a private vehicle that crammed in as many children as possible. With no proper seating facility, the bumpy drive would at times, even hurt them. Children were piled on top of each other and going to school was a terrible experience for my daughter. We then decided that a school transport was a much better option, even if it wasn’t a door-to-door facility like the private vehicles.”

Many educational institutions in the City offer their own transport facility for the convenience of their students. But there are limitations, they say. John Zachariah, Principal, Cathedral High School explains, “Every school has a limited number of vehicles they can provide to students. The ratio between the number of vehicles available and the populace of the school is unbalanced. At our school, we have six buses that can accommodate about 40 students each. We have a transport manager who looks after the maintenance of the bus, conducts regular checks to see that the driver is adhering to prevalent safety norms and at times, even travels with them to check on the roads and route taken. We also regularly get in touch with parents for feedback.”

Agreeing that parents too, are helpless in such situations, he adds that they must double check on the agency that offers private vehicle service and ensure importance is given to safety and security of their children.
Yet another school in the City has hired about seven BMTC buses on a one-year lease and ensures that every one of its students uses the school transport.


 The problem

1. Since schools own limited number of vehicles, not all their students can use the school transport.

2.  School transport does not always cover the entire City, leaving those living in remote areas to opt for private vehicles.

3.  There are many private vehicles which take in maximum number of children on every trip to the school and back.

4.  Many children stuffed in a van or auto-rickshaw increases chances of accidents resulting in loss of many lives.  
5.  Apart from regular warnings, parents find it hard to keep a tab on these vehicles.


Some plausible solutions


1. Government needs to be the chief decision-making body and should seriously think about increasing the fleet of buses for schools.

2. Semi-luxury buses, with reasonable fares, exclusively for schools should be provided by the government.

3. Government hired drivers must be professional and instilled with a sense of responsibility towards children commuting in their vehicles. 

4. Regular safety audits must be conducted if and when the government implements the above stated plan.

5. With regard to parents, they must check on the agency before sending their children in private vehicles.

 “Presently, there is nobody to look after the functioning of these private vehicles and since they are not answerable to any government authority, they do as they please,” says Suparna lamenting over the absence of regulatory authority to monitor the private vehicles.

Adding to that, John Zachariah says, “The City needs to be made safer for children. There is a need to  resolve this problem and it requires the government authorities to wake up and find a feasible solution. With proper legislation only, this is possible.”

Children are the future of the country and the government has to own a stake in being responsible towards their secure upbringing. This is an issue that is constantly questioned in our system yet with time, parents feel, solutions only seem more distant.