Feeling the school bus pinch

CAPTAIN’S CORNER BY CAPTAIN MAHMOOD AL MAHMOOD

The comprehensive list of new safety rules issued by the Ministry of Transportation for school buses and vans is an indication that the authorities have been thinking in detail about this very important traffic safety aspect.

My only question is: is there enough time for bus owners and schools to comply with all these rules? The school year 2024 will start in just over three weeks and there are hundreds of buses to equip and modify to make them safer.

These changes cost money – even a simple one like fitting the interior and the rear with cameras and fitting the bus with signage is an expensive job if there is a fleet of buses for a school. Undoubtedly, the transportation companies and school management will pass on at least some of the cost to the parents – this transportation fee hike will come at a time when the school supplies for the new school term are already straining the household budgets.

Still, no parent wants to be accused of putting a price limit on their children’s safety so either they will pay or resort to dropping off and picking up the children themselves.

That will mean traffic snarls on the roads near the schools every day. I think , along with the sensible and excellent rules for school bus safety, the Ministry of Education should consider splitshift schooling – early morning to mid-morning for senior students and late afternoon to evening for primary school children. Preschool and kindergarten age children can attend a fewer-hours school day in the morning, starting shortly after the seniors.

In any case their premises are usually separate. This kind of staggered approach will take many vehicles off the roads during school hours and make driving safer for everybody.

Of course, this means working parents will have to come up with a plan to ensure they have someone responsible to take care of their kids who are at home – but who said we can treat our schools as a babysitting service? The only other alternative is for the government to subsidise school transportation so that parents don’t feel the pinch.