VIJAYAWADA: Private and government schools in the district may soon be asked to register the commercial vehicles that carry students to the institutions, with them. Even as the government is busy cracking the whip on school buses flouting norms, it looks forward to implement its fresh decision to ensure students’ safety.
Schools have already been instructed to ensure that autorickshaws and rickshaws are not overloaded. In the previous academic year, the education department had instructed the schools to collect details of drivers and their vehicles. It seized 56 autorickshaws and booked drivers as part of the initiative. However, they are yet to take similar measures this year.
“For the safety of schoolchildren, we are working towards making it mandatory for the schools to register with them, the autos and taxis that take kids from home to school and back. Their safety is the responsibility of the school authorities and parents. The schools must have with them mobile numbers and other details of the drivers. Similarly, the parents should see to that the vehicles are not overloaded,” said K Ravi Kumar, Deputy DEO of Krishna district.
Of the hundreds of private schools in the district, a majority of them are yet to appoint safety officers to repeatedly inspect if the drivers are abiding by the rules.