Parents wary of school field trips

This is an upshot of the Kallar Kahar accident.

FAISALABAD: In the wake of the tragic Kallar Kahar bus accident, field trips in schools across Punjab appear to have come to a complete halt. Muhammad Akram, father of a student from the ill-fated Millat Grammar School said that “after the Kallar Kahar incident, none of the parents want to send their children on study tours anymore”.

“I had asked the school’s administration to not organise any study trips until concrete and foolproof arrangements were made with a proper plan for the security of children,” he added.

Haidar Ali, the chief executive of AG Tours, a prominent recreation tour operator in Punjab, said that in the aftermath of the incident not a single institution in Faisalabad, Lahore, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Multan, Sargodha and other small towns of the province had booked a tour.

Thirty seven children lost their lives in a bus accident near Kallar Kahar on September 26 when the driver lost control of the bus and it crashed.

Education Executive District Officer Imram Sohaib appeared helpless, saying that “the education department and the government cannot force schools to adopt proper safety measures while organising study tours,” adding that parents should play their role in this regard instead.

He conceded, however, that it was time that a comprehensive policy was chalked out for safety measures on school field trips.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 17^th, 2011.