Pune: While young children being sent to schools in rickshaws is quite a common sight in the city, the Early Childhood Association (ECA), which has set up safety guidelines for school transport, has clearly stated that the parents must avoid sending their children to schools in rickshaws.
With reference to the mishaps occurring to schoolchildren who commute by school buses and vans, the ECA has set up safety guidelines for schools as well as parents.
However, the autorickshaws that are so commonly used by the parents to send their children and even the toddlers to schools, are not even the recognised mode as school transport by the Regional Transport Office (RTO), said Pune Deputy RTO Sanjeev Bhor.
“We have not given permission to the autorickshaws to be used as a mode of school transport. Hence, school bus safety norms are not applicable to them,” Bhor said.
“While otherwise, the rickshaw drivers can take only three passengers, they can give a ride to five schoolchildren at a time. If they are found to be violating this rule, we take action against them,” he explained.
As per the association, there should be general safety training for the bus drivers and lady attendants whose primary duty is to check the bus thoroughly before locking it. Also, parents should avoid sending children by any vehicle with open doors.
“There have been incidents when the bus drivers have locked the doors of the bus before checking if all the students have got off. Parents do not always check the condition of the private vans before allowing their children to commute in them. To avoid any untoward incident, we have formed safety procedures, which we want all schools and parents to implement,” said ECA President Dr Swati Popat Vats.
“Also, both driver and bus attendant must know how to take out children using the emergency door,” said ECA’s National Core Committee member Aditya Tapadia.
Vats said the Association has advocated using a ‘sign in and sign out’ book that parents can sign when the child is handed over to bus attendant and then make the teacher sign it again when the attendant hands over the child to them at the school and the other way around.
Safety guidelines
