Pvt schools continue to flout SC norms for safe transport

Vikas Sharma

Tribune News Service

Jammu, December 4

Private schools continue to ignore the genuine concerns of the parents with regard to the safety of their wards in the winter capital.

The buses and vans of some of the private schools ferrying children have no mention of the institution or contact number, thereby raising a question over the seriousness of the authorities to address this issue of utmost importance. It is mandatory for all private schools to paint their buses and vans yellow and mention the name of institution, not only on both sides of the vehicle but also on its rear side too, along with the contact number of the school and security official. Even the parents too have voiced their concern over the issue many times.

A visit to a private school was enough to gauge the seriousness of the matter. There was a long queue of vans parked outside the school and none of the vehicles was painted yellow. Also, there was no mention of the school or contact number on either side of the vehicle ferrying children.

“My son is studying at a private school. Every time I ask the management about the reason for not colouring their transport vehicle yellow, they just ignore it by giving a vague reply that our wards are safe both in the school and on the bus. In fact a few months back, a delegation had also met the school management to apprise them about the issue, but all in vain,” said Sahil Kumar, a parent.

“In fact, the school buses, which have been painted yellow and have mentioned the institution’s name, have the contact numbers that are mostly not functioning. There is no contact number of a particular person for emergency. Sometimes our children get late but we have no number to contact the person concerned to know about their exact location,” he added.

Moreover, frequent changing of bus drivers by the school managements is another issue where parents are apprehensive. The parents claimed that they were not informed by the school authorities while changing the drivers of the buses and vans.

“My son usually reaches home at 2.45 pm. A few days ago, my son did not turn up home till 3 pm and when I called the van driver, he informed me that the school management has assigned him another bus. We felt helpless as we had no clue about the new driver,” another parent Kapil Singh said.

Meanwhile, Jammu Chief Education Officer Kulbir Singh said: “The issue will be taken up on a priority basis. We are trying our best to ensure the smooth functioning of educational institutions, both government and private.”