A three-year old boy getting badly injured after falling from a school bus has exposed the lack of observance of the strict rules for school buses. The incident came to light after the parents of the students filed a police complaint on the weekend. According to sources, the school tried to suppress the incident but the parents of the students finally decided to file a complaint. On Monday the school again reportedly tried to reach a compromise with the parents asking them to withdraw the complaint.
The State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) chairperson Usha Negi stated that the commission has been always strict regarding the safety of the students. Further, the directions by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) which are mandatory for the schools to follow will be given again to the schools in the city. She said, “We will be giving these directions again to the schools so that no such incident is repeated. Also, officials from the commission will pay surprise visits to the schools to check whether the schools are following the mandatory directions. Those found guilty will be punished accordingly”
Commenting on the school trying to reach a compromise with the parents of the victim to take the filed complaint back she said, “I am surprised that a school is trying to build pressure on the parents for taking back the complaint. The school is not authorised to take any action against the child and the commission will support the parents for not taking the case back.”
It is pertinent to mention here that as per guidelines of the CBSE for the school buses the windows should be covered with solid nets to avoid an accident. However, a majority of school buses in the city are running without following the rules properly.
Adding more to this, National Association for Parents and Students Rights (NAPSR) president Arif Khan said, “It is important that the department involved in this should pay serious attention to the school buses not following the rules as it is a matter of students’ safety. The negligence of the department concerned and attitude to wait for accidents are the main reasons for such incidents occurring in the city.”