New school bus policy in Maharashtra Creating Safer Roads for school going children

The latter clause has a few sub-clauses. A hired bus will indicate clearly the words “On school Duty”.

The school bus driver, according to the guidelines, must have at least five years’ driving experience and a badge. Apart from this, each bus will have to carry a fire extinguisher and a first aid box along with a complete list of the school’s pupils with their name, class, residential address, contact phone number (or mobile number), blood group and their points of stoppage for embarkation and disembarkation near their residence against their name. It is also mandatory that the list indicates the route plan duly attested by the head of the educational institution showing the place of origin, termination and detailed route it has to follow. Every school bus will have to provide an attendant and a lady attendant in case of school buses carrying girl child.

Apart from this, the stretch of road outside the school will have to be prominently indicated as a School Zone. And wherever required, Pelican Signals can be installed which will be operated strictly by the school authorities during school opening and closing hours. This will take care of the children’s safety while crossing the roads. Maximum speed of vehicles in front of the schools will not exceed 25kmph and will reduce to 10kmph in front of the school gates where speed breakers will have to be provided.

In coordination with the local authorities and traffic police, school bus stops and bus bays must be provided for in residential areas. It is also made compulsory to have warning signs showing the figure of a school boy and school girl outside the school.

It is for the first time that the state government has specifically emphasised on the fact that new schools coming up in unsafe environment or chaotic areas or without parking facilities must not be given recognition.

Some other salient features of the policy include medical check-up of the drivers (they also must not have been charged in any serious offence), employment of adequate number of traffic wardens by the school authorities, refresher courses for First Aid and Fire Extinguishing Techniques twice a year – before the commencement of each semester and the need for speed governors. Parents and guardians or a teacher too may travel in the bus to ensure the safety of children. Pimpri-Chinchwad is one area where schools have been taking these instructions very seriously. The question that arises is: “From where will the schools get so many traffic wardens?” Responds Patil, “The schools can identify people and we will train them. They will be paid for by the schools though. Earlier, the schools used to take responsibility only inside the gate. A lot is changing now. We want them to take the responsibility till the child reaches home. So as long as the child is in the school bus, he is in the custody of the school.”

According to the policy, vans with a capacity of a maximum of 12 children too can be used as school buses. Even the auto rickshaws ferrying pupils will have to undergo certain safety norms.

Design of the Bus

What is important is that the state government has given due attention to the design of the bus. A flap of 220mm diameter, showing stop sign, must be incorporated in the buses so that it can eject when the door opens, thereby giving a stop warning to the vehicles coming from behind on the left hand side – specially the two wheelers. A sign showing a school boy and a school girl must be painted or fixed on the front side and rear side of the bus. It is also mandated to install a retractable footstep that will emerge at the lower level when the door opens. This will make the climb easier for children. The policy states, “The lowest footstep of the board shall be at a height not exceeding 220mm from the ground and all steps should be fitted with non-slip treads.” At the bus entrance, door grab rails as per the stipulated design must be installed on the right hand side of the bus to enable pupils to embark and disembark easily.

The seats too will be undergoing changes to make them more safe and convenient for children. While the top edges of the seat bars will have to be adequately cushioned to minimise head injuries in case of any impact, side handles will have to be provided for proper grip for children sitting on them.Also, two soft handles have to be provided at a convenient height for the children to be able to grip easily in case of a need. School bag racks are to be provided under the seats for safety and comfort “where loading is from the rear side.” Water bottle racks to must be provided. The windows of the buses will have to be fitted with horizontal grills.