Bengaluru: These numbers may surprise you. But they reflect the way in which the Supreme Court guidelines on the safety of children in school buses is disdainfully thrown to the winds by certain schools. And that, too, schools whom one would have thought, knew better!
According to the data collected by the state transport department, between April 1, 2014 and Jun 30, 2015, the transport department has registered as many as 849 cases against 66 schools for violating the safety guidelines issued by the Supreme Court in their school vehicles.
Interestingly, the highest number of cases were registered in Bengaluru city. The list of erring schools include elite schools of Bengaluru city like Bishop Cotton, DPS Public School, Ravishankar Vidya Mandir, Kumaran’s Children School, St. Joseph's Girls’ School and Poornaprajna School. According to the documents, between 1-04-2014 and 30-06-2015, a total number of 849 cases were registered against these schools for the violation of the Supreme Court guidelines on safety in school vehicles.
A total of Rs 4.24 lakh has been collected as fines from the schools. The list includes: Ryan International School (85 cases), DPS (76), Venkat International School (63 cases), Bishop Cotton (35), Kumarans (33), Vibgyor (23), Ravishankar Vidya Mandir (43), St Joseph Girls’ school (20), Poorna Prajna (14), Global (12)... these are the major schools which were booked for violation of the Supreme Court guidelines.
According to the data, 793 cases were registered against 34 private schools of the city for not keeping to the guidelines. According to the data, compared to Bengaluru city, a lower number of guideline violations were reported from other cities of the state.
Speaking to this newspaper, an officer from the transport department informed that the Supreme Court guidelines include mandatory speed governors, seating arrangements, compulsory first aid box etc.
“School vans have been booked for multiple violations. But we are surprised by the fact that even the elite schools of the city, which are in the forefront of children’s education, have failed to follow the safety guidelines issued by the Supreme Court,” he said.
Meanwhile, DPI officials have made it clear that schools must follow the Supreme Court rules. “DPI, transport department and traffic police have released a separate set of guidelines based on the Supreme Court directions.
“Schools must follow them to ensure the safety of the kids travelling in the school buses,” said a senior officer.
