THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The conveyance of students attending schools and colleges has been affected even after the classes started in full swing from last week. Only a few educational institutions have applied for fitness certificates leaving students to arrange the conveyance on their own.
There are around 27,250 vehicles of educational institutions registered with the Motor Vehicles Department. When schools reopened in November, less than 2000 vehicles applied for fitness certificates. “A few institutions were willing to renew fitness this time. We will hold meetings at the regional level to resolve the conveyance problem of students,” said an officer of MVD.
The schools have started scouting for private vehicles on lease after parents complained of poor arrangements for conveyance. The contract carriage operators who have lost business due to Covid were too eager for the deal. “There is good demand for 16-20 seater vehicles from schools. The vehicle owners are happy with the arrangement because even otherwise March is a lean period for us,” said Contract Carriage Operators Association (CCOA), general secretary, S Prasanthan.
A school manager on conditions of anonymity said that an academic year ending in a month’s time made many institutions think about leasing. “Leasing vehicles is a feasible option because it requires more than Rs 1 lakh to make our own buses road-worthy under the present conditions. The situation will improve from next academic year onward,” he said.