Private schools in the city were on Thursday granted time till September 30 to fulfil the mandatory requirements mentioned in the ‘Surakshit School Vahan Policy’ of the state government for safer transportation of schoolchildren or face action.
Holding a meeting on road safety in the city, Gurugram Deputy Commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh said that the Regional Transport Authority would launch a campaign along with the traffic police from October 1 to carry out checking in school buses and action would be initiated against violators.
Mr. Singh said that it was mandatory for all schools to adhere to the provisions of the policy. As per the policy, all private schools need to install at least two good quality closed-circuit television cameras in all buses, in the front and the rear, with a recording capacity of minimum 15 days. Besides, the schools must keep a six-month backup of the recording.
Driver experience
The driver of the school bus should have a minimum five years experience and should not have been challaned more than three times in five years. Besides, the driver must wear proper uniform and sport a nameplate and have a medical fitness certificate from the civil surgeon. The maximum speed of the bus should be 50 km per hour.
Mr. Singh said the staff deputed for the safety and security of the students, including a conductor and a woman attendant, should be well-trained and a woman teacher should also be present in the bus.
Set guidelines
The bus must carry a first-aid kit and fire extinguisher and the children should be dropped and picked up from inside the boundary of the school. None of the buses is supposed to be carrying students more than its capacity.
He further said that the school buses should be painted in yellow colour with a strip of dark blue paint going all around the body of the vehicles. All buses should be fitted with speed governor and the words “School Bus” must be written clearly on the rear and front of the bus.