Death of four-year-old girl in Karnataka: Risky ride to school and back
The recent untimely death of a four-year-old student who was flung out of her school bus in Bengaluru has once again brought into focus the safety of children travelling to and from school. Small children have been run over by the very buses they alight from, and school buses have been involved in accidents, putting children at risk.
Often, school buses park on residential roads, and cause traffic jams on arterial roads, sparking complaints from the public. All this and more has kept school transport in focus in cities across Karnataka. While the government has put in place a number of rules regarding school buses, the safety factor continues to cause concern as there exists little or no regulation.
Parents who are unable to personally drop their children to schools rely on outside support and make use of transport provided by schools or dedicated government buses, or resort to private services. School transport, though expensive, becomes the best option as reliance on government services means that not all routes are covered, and students might have to make the rest of their journey on foot or find a second means of transport. This makes private transport popular, as it is cheap and reliable, despite the safety concerns.
It’s a common sight to see white tempos doubling as school vans, and mini vans and autorickshaws packed with schoolchildren. While they portray a happy memory of childhood, they also underline the need for stricter regulations and guidelines in the transportation of children.
These issues are common in all districts in the state. In Hassan, only a few reputed educational institutions own and have sufficient transport facilities. Prominent institutions also tend to give better service that satisfies parents by appointing experienced drivers, conductors and assistants to take care of them. The vehicles are also well-maintained, mitigating the risk factor.
A maximum number of schools in the district leave it to parents to either ferry their own children or use private vehicles like mini vans, autorickshaws or multi-utility vehicles. These vehicles have only drivers, and no assistants or cleaners to accompany the children. It means that if the driver is negligent, it could result in children sustaining minor and major injuries while boarding or alighting, and parents are anxious until their children return home.
Interestingly, the five-seater Maruti Omni is the preferred mode of transport and constitutes the bulk of private vehicles transporting children in Hassan. Nearly 65 Maruti Omnis and over 35 autorickshaws are part of the pick up and drop private service in Hassan city. The driver often has to accommodate around 15 children in a van, which puts them in danger.
Parents usually opt for private vehicles or autorickshaws as they are affordable, but do not take precautions like asking about seating capacity, despite the dangers of suffocation in a crowded vehicle.
Suma, a parent, has criticised schools for not having their own transport facilities, stating that private vehicle drivers are usually in a hurry to drop off children and do not pay attention to their safety. She said this issue is also compounded, as there is no bus facility for children in most city extensions.
Overcrowding and rash driving
In Kalaburagi, though there is said to be no threat to children in school buses, children are at risk in private vehicles. On January 9, a goods vehicle in which students were returning home from Mahagaon town to their native Madaki Thanda, turned turtle, leaving 22 children in Class 9 and 10 injured. Though 20 children were sent home, two are still undergoing treatment.
Most villages in the district do not have bus facility to transport children. Government schoolchildren have to depend on private vehicles like autorickshaws and goods vehicles, and their lives are at risk, says Madivalappa, a resident of Madaki village.
The story is the same in Kalaburagi city. While most private schools have their own buses and take safety measures, many autorickshaw drivers make a good business out of ferrying children to school and back. Each autorickshaw carries no less than eight children, and though such autos are involved in accidents, no complaints are registered, says a police official.
Deputy Director of Public Instructions (DDPI) Sakrappagowda Biradar said he has brought the issue to the notice of the Road Safety Committee. Notices have been issued to all schools and colleges to provide information on safety measures taken for the safety of students within a fortnight, he said.
In Belagavi district, most private schools which have bus facility to transport students, do have a caretaker to ensure the students are safe. Karu Wagh, in-charge of transport at St Paul’s High School,
Belagavi, told TNIE, “Following the instructions of the principal, we started the school bus service for students and teachers, who were facing transportation problems, especially during the pandemic.”
Anil Patil, a parent of two schoolchildren, said that overloaded autorickshaws ferrying school children were a common sight until one such autorickshaw overturned, injuring five children at Sadashiv Nagar in 2019. Police cracked down on such vehicles, and now, most autodrivers have stopped packing children into their vehicles, Patil said.
Fate of govt schoolkids
In Kodagu, the fate of government schoolchildren remains unchanged, private schools have vans that are regularly monitored by the school management, and students who attend government-aided schools rely on private vehicles and autorickshaws. These private vehicles are white-board vehicles and function only on the basis of trust from parents. There is no proper system in place to monitor private school transport. Meanwhile, a majority of students in rural parts of Kodagu depend on buses for transport, and walk to school from bus stops.
Experts blame the absence of a child protection policy and negligence by the RTO for the lack of child safety measures in transportation of children in most schools in Dakshina Kannada. Renni D’Souza, president of Child Welfare Committee, Dakshina Kannada, says that while issuing permits, the RTO must make sure the guidelines such as maintenance of vehicles is regular.
“Schools should have guidelines on the safety of children, especially during transportation, as per the Child Protection Policy. Under this policy, schools having buses and other vehicles to pick and drop children must ensure children are safe. There should be proper parking facilities by the school administration but school buses, vans and autorickshaws pick up and drop children by the roadside.
Most schools do not have parking facility either. There should be guidelines for bus and van drivers and children should also be aware of them. A woman staffer should be appointed and there should be a competent person to manage children’s transportation,” Renni said.
Experts say that timings of routes on which these school vehicles move is also making travel hectic. “Due to delay, drivers overspeed and try to reach school on time, and making children hurriedly alight and enter campus with a lot of anxiety and panic. The school management must ensure children are picked up early and reach school on time. The school administration must not assume that children who are outside the school premises are not their responsibility,” Renni added.
“Many vehicles are overcrowded, and children are at risk. The public should be observant and inform police or the authorities concerned to resolve the issue,” a Childline official said.
An incident that occurred in 2016 in Udupi has prompted some level of safety in tranportation of children. The lives of eight schoolchildren were snuffed out after their school bus collided with a private bus near Hemmady, Kundapur. The incident put the Udupi district administration on alert, and now, more attention is being paid to make sure school buses are driven safely.
Though in most cases, school bus drivers do not cross the speed limit, some do drive rashly. Harish R, a parent, said the school administration should regularly reorient drivers of school buses to pay attention to safety, otherwise negligence will take over after a period of time.
Udupi DDPI Ganapathi K told TNIE that orientation for drivers of school buses is held in the district with the police department. ‘’We insist that CCTV cameras are installed inside school buses to ensure children are safe,’’ he added.
Inputs from Donna Eva (Bengaluru), Divya Cutinho (Dakshina Kannada),
Ramakrishna Badseshi (Kalaburagi), BR Udaya Kumar (Hassan), Tushar A Majukar (Belagavi), Prajna GR (Kodagu), Prakash Samaga (Udupi)