Transportation Of School and College Students: A Necessary Evil ...!

The great back to school for most students of pre-primary, primary and secondary marked Monday. This return also means the beginning of a hard work for drivers of vans and school buses, do not neglect to say, have a heavy responsibility to transport students. Between rising rates of secondary pathways van and the plight of school buses for middle school, traveling for another year will not be easy because it will submit to incinvénients transit.

Ten years after establishing a regulation which stipulates the obligation for all school vans to have a driver assistance, the NTA has finally decided to implement this law in all its rigor from Monday. All school vans pre-primary and primary will count with the presence of a wait. latter role will be to ensure the behaviour of children in the van and accompany them to the school yard to ensure security. "It is an old law dating back to 2002, but which had not yet been implemented," recalls Cyril Appajala, traffic controller at the NTA. In fact, when the project was announced in 2002, the school vans drivers were not convinced, and to this day, their opinion has not changed. 
President of Van Komite secondary pathways (KVL), Nazir Junggee , said he quite agreed with the fact that a driver is using essential for the safety of children. The only problem, according to him, is in a situation where the waiting sick: "According to the regulations of the NTA, each school van owner is entitled to two registered drivers aid as it should be with the authority concerned waiting for a pass. But in reality this is not practical. Suppose the assistant principal falls ill and the second person, who has no permanent commitment from the driver, or just unavailable at this time there. It is clear that the driver will be in a deadlock " . Nazir Junggee NTA proposes to revise the law to include a clause stipulating that if the assistant principal is sick, the owner of the van may, at its discretion, take a person of his choice even if it n did not sound until pass.

"With the vans, I know that my child is safe"

The President of the KVL doubt, however, the duration of this law. "While the authorities took 10 years to implement and develop the system of pass is that there must be something wrong with the law , " he said. According to the drivers proposed to the NTA in May, offering courses for assistants that they have training on precautions, among others, but for financial reasons, this project would not materialized. 
KVL The announced for this year increased by Rs 80 to Rs 100 on the price of school vans. "The reason for the increase, it is precisely because of the law, because it must pay the assistant, but also due to further increases in our costs, insurance, for example, " says Nazir Junggee. Traditional rates were Rs 500 to Rs 600 depending on the route and the parents' request. 
Increased from 15 to 20% for parents to understand in general. Indeed, many of them do not hesitate to have recourse to a school van for their children. For Laura, the fact that his son take the school van him a favor: "I do not have time to drop my son to school because I work. This relieves me in my daily life," she says . According to her, the school vans are also a means of ensuring the safety of children. "With vans, I know that my child is safe and that it comes at a fixed time every day," said Anabelle Hurrhungee, including son is in Std 3. As this mother, Laura said to the driver 100% confidence. About the law for the presence of a driver with the latter expressed satisfaction: "It is very important that the authorities reconsider this law because it is a necessity," she says. 
rise to the rates, mothers say they aware that this is the price to pay to have their children receive a quality service and are in good hands despite the accidents in which children were killed in the past (see text below). The choice of drivers is also an important element. "Personally, I would choose a person responsible enough to be able to handle children. This may limit the turmoil in the van and avoid accidents," said Anabelle Hurrhungee.

Fines, imprisonment

To ensure the safety of children traveling in school vans, inspectors from the NTA or the police force will be stationed at various schools to ensure that school vans meet the standards for driver assistance. And for those who do not respect them, they run the risk of a fine of not more than Rs 10,000 or one year imprisonment. The reason: "We can not procrastinate with child safety" , says Cyril Appajala. 
Regarding the criteria for attendants, they must be over 18 and be provided with a certificate of morality and should not suffer from any infectious disease. "We received 680 entries for the map attendants, some 800 school vans and to date we have approved about 550. Moreover, 55 are pending approval and certain other documents remain to be recovered with the owners of school vans, " said Cyril Appajala. 
Regarding the safety of children, Nazir Junggee is the "zero tolerance". "To all drivers who return to work tomorrow I ask them to be vigilant. Should not forget that security is very important. I make an appeal to parents so they also ensure that the van carrying their children meet standards. Komite They can contact at the following address: komitevanlekol @ gmail. com for clarification or for complaints, " he said.

A nightmare

School buses are a real nightmare for students from several locations across the island. Go to school daily by school bus turns out to be a real obstacle course for thousands of students. A lack of bus that students are forced to travel in harsh conditions. In some areas of the country, especially the north, the lack of bus power hundreds of students to travel miles on foot to reach the banks of the colleges.For these young people, their daily commute to school is an ordeal. Thus, for John David, who is about to head back to school tomorrow, it's been six years since he suffered the same ordeal. "Every morning is a race against the clock." Lives of Flacq , he was forced to leave his home at dawn to go to the capital where he must take this "ultimate" school bus to be on time to his college is Beau- basin. "I do not really have a choice. I did this bus to be on time. Besides the bus is overloaded and students are crammed. This is extremely painful" , he laments . The teen also says that school buses do not drive students to school and they are forced to walk one km daily to reach their secondary schools. 
opinion is shared by James, a student of form IV in a college in the south. For him, besides the problems of crowded buses, adolescent laments the lack of safety in school transport. "Sometimes the bus speeding and often students who are standing fall and hurt themselves, we are not safe , "he said. Anna, HSC student in a college in the south, too, is the vulgarity of drivers and controllers who shocked: "Given that transport is free for students, drivers and controllers for both the benefits we blame and tell us so vulgar. Often the girls are paying the price " , she said.

"The obligation to walk a mile every morning"

Calling for the improvement of school transportation for its establishment, Assistant Rector College Southern explains that for years she fights with the relevant authorities in order to improve the lives of its students. " Despite efforts from various bus companies, for three years I do my best to make myself understood, but unfortunately until now nothing concrete has resulted. School buses that cover the southern are insufficient for the number of students ever to grow over the years. Not to mention the lack of space where students come together as in a tin and heat almost unbearable " , she said. 
According to Jean Jacques Bernard, a teacher at the college BPS Fatima Goodlands, three buses are available to students. However, he maintained that no bus from the capital has been made ??available to the college. "There are about 250 students from the region of Port Louis which do not have easy transportation. these students find themselves obliged to walk a mile each morning station Goodlands to college. I find this unacceptable because these students would have benefited from a portability especially since the school is located in a secluded area and travel such a distance can be dangerous, especially for girls " , he says. 
problems for busloads the NTA maintains that under the Road Traffic Regulations 1954 , three children must sit on a seat reserved for two adults. For their part, bus companies say they will continue to make every effort this year to provide facilitated transport students. According Athleem Bhundhoo, Director and Traffic Manager at United Bus Service, sixty buses will be available to students on a daily basis. Whereas the number of buses UBS granted to schools has not changed from the previous year, on the side of the National Transport Corporation (NTC) more buses will be deployed in schools this year compared to 2012.