Monitoring school vans : Take all stakeholders on board
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: May 09, 2025 -

What steps has the Government taken up to ensure that school vans stick to the stipulated number of students it can carry? Nothing on this front has been heard at all, other than the order notified that a vehicle should not carry more than 1.5 times the number of its seating capacity.

This is precisely the reason why Manipur keeps hearing of steps being taken up to ensure that school vans stick to the number of students one van can carry but with nothing to show that anything meaningful has been taken up.

A look at any school van will more than show how school children are packed, like the proverbial sardines in a can, inside a school van. Given the traffic madness that one sees on the roads of Imphal, it is only God's grace that Manipur has not seen any major mishap involving school children carrying vans or even buses.

Once again the Department of Education has come out with a proposal to launch an outreach programme and monitor all school vans or vehicles carrying school students and one hopes that things are taken further than just a sensitisation programme.

What is needed are some tough steps, such as penalising any school van found packing in more students than the prescribed number.

Schools to which the school van is affiliated should also be penalised.

It was with concern that The Sangai Express had suggested more than once that schools need to be taken on board in taking up any steps to restrict the number of students a school van may ferry.

School authorities should be told that they have the bounden duty to crack down on any school van found carrying more than the stipulated number of students.

The crack down may include suspending the particular school van and for repeated offenders being barred from ferrying any student of the said school.

Parents and guardians too should be taken into confidence and steps may be explored to see that the earning capacity of the school van drivers is not compromised to a great extent while cutting down on the number of students it can carry per trip.

For starters, parents and guardians may be asked to keep an open mind in so far as meeting any increase in the van fees of their children is concerned and if this is found to be not agreeable, then a rate may be worked out which may be acceptable to all.

If no compromise can be found then perhaps parents may make alternative arrangements such as personally dropping and picking up their children from school!

Something has to give for it does not make any sense in making the learning process of the young students miserable.

Other than the number of students that a school van can carry, what other stipulations has the Government laid down ?

This is important for it is about ensuring the safety of young children as well, making the process of going to school all that more 'enjoyable' and fruitful for the young students.

Periodic check of the vehicle fitness of the school vans should also be made mandatory and the needed mechanisms should be put in place.

Other than this the Government should also study ways on how to make the initiative successful by joining hands with the school authorities, the parents and guardians and influential civil society organisations.

This is about the security and safety of the young school going children and ideally society as a whole should be involved in making things safe and secure for the young children.

This is about making the Government responsive to the growing demand of the modern times.

The Department of Education (S) has taken the right step towards sensitising all concerned on the need to limit the number of students a school van may carry and as stated above it is imperative that they proceed further in this step.

For starters will schools be involved in any future steps to be taken up ?

The involvement of schools is critical to making the move of the Government successful.

Safety for school going children cannot be compromised at any cost and the first step towards this is obviously to make the journey to and from school enjoyable and pleasant.

Goes against all the understanding of education when young tots are packed inside school vans, compromising on their safety and comfort, and remember this is summer and the mercury is shooting up.