KARACHI:
Last week, a private school bus headed for a school trip overturned in Swat. At least three students were killed while 26 others sustained serious injuries. The images of the bus showed the poor and decrepit state of the vehicle. Unfortunately, most of the buses and vans used for schools and colleges in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and perhaps in other parts of the country are neither checked properly nor maintained. It seems to have become a norm to use poor condition buses and vans for school duties. Most private schools are not bothered about the condition of the buses and vans and hire transport that costs cheaper.
Even the district administration has failed to keep a check on transportation within the district. It is because of this negligence that fatal accidents occur every day. So many children’s lives are put at stake. In most parts of the world, school buses are regularly checked, and it is ensured that only the best forms of transport are given to students. Unfortunately, in Pakistan, there is no value for the lives of children given the poor condition of school transport. Besides that, the drivers hired are usually not trained to drive. Consequently, they speed vehicles on dangerous roads.
It is about time that the federal and provincial governments chalk out a plan to check all the buses and vans that work with schools and colleges. The drivers must be trained and only those with a driving licence must be allowed to drive school buses. There is an urgent need to prevent any further tragedies like the one in Swat.
Syed Badshah
Buner
Published in The Express Tribune, November 27th, 2021.
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