Admin readies to report status of school buses

After completing the preliminary level investigation of the condition of school buses owned and maintained by private schools, the district administration is all set to release the details of their findings about school bus conditions within this week. A team has recently completed on the spot assessment of private school buses taking into account various norms.

“After gathering the details from the private schools, a consolidated report on the condition of school buses have been prepared. The report will be brought in public domain within a few days. The report has been predominately prepared considering the safety measures adopted by the schools in the recent years,” said Ranchi SDO, Anjali Yadav.

Following the guidelines of the Apex Court, the district administration had formed a separate committee of 14 teams to monitor and make private schools adhere to the rules of SC on school buses maintenance.

Yadav asserted that attempts have been made to cover maximum schools that come within the jurisdiction. “As many as 133 private schools have been covered during our inspection. Through on the spot verification, we have gathered the facts. Also, notices have been served to different schools that by far are yet to imply the rules as directed by the district administration as well as SC.”

On further enquiring about the condition of school buses, Ranchi SDO expressed her satisfaction and stated, “From security perspectives, condition of school buses has improved. At present several schools buses have installed CCTV cameras, Global Positioning System (GPS) device and Speed Governors.”

According to the SDO, during the inspection installation of fire extinguishers, GPS device and CCTV cameras inside school buses was checked by the district administrative officials. Also, schools have been instructed to get rid of all outdated buses. Provisions of safe drinking water, first aid kit, proper door management, deputation of staffs including details of drivers/bus conductors was taken into consideration.

However, when asked about the fees hike, Yadav stated that the district administration cannot directly intervene into the matter of annual fees increment as on different grounds private schools charge fees yet the officials have compiled the details and reported the matter to the Deputy Commissioner.

Notably, during the meeting with the Divisional Commissioner in December 2017, the decision regarding bus fee hike was also counted on suggesting that the fees charged from the parents must not be incurred much more than the distance covered by the buses while taking care of the fact that the bus fees should not be charged of more than 10 months at a time.

Meanwhile, putting the stance of Jharkhand Parents Association over the issue of bus maintenance, Ajay Rai, a member of the association said, “We too are eagerly waiting for the report which is prepared by the district administration. Since, April 27, 2016, no meeting of Association members and district administration personnel has been conducted on this issue. As per Association information, there are several private schools that are yet to implement the orders of the higher authorities. Once the report is out, picture will be cleared.”