RULES thrown to winds

CM deadline on student safety passes, without any action... By Faris Arakkal Most private vehicles ferrying students in the city have been found to be neglecting safety norms. Vehicles overcrowded with students are a regular sight. The stipulation that school bus drivers should have a minimum experience of 10 years and of 35 years of age are not followed. And, of course, no vehicle maintains the speed limit (under 40km per hour). "Most drivers haven't submitted their details to the school concerned yet," says the head mistress of a private school in the city. Ironically enough, the deadline set by the chief minister in the Assembly in this regard has already passed (on October 15). He had set the deadline while responding to a call-attention motion on poor safety of school buses. A meeting of headmasters and the district education officer was held in the city on October 18, notifying schools on the various measures to be taken to ensure safety of students. DEO PT George now says there must have been "a communication gap which resulted in the CM's decision being communicated to the authorities here." And nobody in the officialdom here is aware of the directive from the minister concerned to all station house officers to regularly convene meetings of school principals and SHOs of the city on the issue! The last such meeting was held before the schools had opened, says another head mistress. School authorities blame parents for the poor safety "as they force drivers to take maximum number of children in the vehicle". Worse, the drivers plead helplessness as maintaining a speed of less than 40km "is not practical". After the meeting with the DEO, schools have started collecting information on how many students take the buses/school vans. The DEO has asked each school to submit a report as soon as possible. Meanwhile, posters threatening to stage protests against the authorities' negligence on the issue have started appearing on school walls.