Patna: Private schools are mushrooming but they are unable to provide adequate transport facilities, forcing schoolchildren to rely on unsafe autos and vans, endangering their lives.
The parents blame school administrations for neglecting children's safety despite significant sums paid as fees. On Tuesday, five girls and three boys had a narrow escape when a school van plunged into a canal near Gardanibagh Road No 4.
Gardanibagh being a protesters' haunt, there were lots of protesting computer teachers nearby. Some of them, as also Gram Rakhsa Dal personnel, jumped into the canal to rescue the children.
On Wednesday, The Telegraph visited several places in the city to look at how "scary, unsafe and difficult" is schoolchildrens journey home in vans and autos.
Anisabad, 12pm
Many autorickshaws, almost overloaded with boys and girls from various schools, some forced to sit next to the driver's seat, "openly compromising" their safety.
The Motor Vehicles Act says three adults should travel in a small auto. But hardly any of the over a lakh autos follow it. Autos packed with more than the permitted capacity, of minors, are a common site.
Picture by Manoj Kumar
Ayesha Khan, a homemaker come to pick her daughter Madiha, 12, from a nearby school, said: "Many schools don't have enough transportation facility so we've to rely on autowalas. But it isn't safe. We're worried for our children."
She didn't even have the name or contact number of the driver in whose vehicle her daughter travels home daily.
"In case of any mishap, the school administration will not take responsibility but they continue to permit private vans to load children in whatever manner they deem fit," said Manju Kumari, a schoolteacher.
Boring Road, 12.30pm
Over a dozen school vans spotted on the roadside, with schoolchildren getting roasted in the heat while also hungry and tired. There were no school representatives in the van. It is standard practice for a school representative to be there in the van to subvert any wrongful intention of the driver. But the practice is openly violated.
Many autos and vans had more schoolchildren than permitted. Unease was writ large on the face of many schoolchildren. In 2012, the Supreme Court had said that a school van can carry only one-and-a-half times more students than the seating capacity in case they are less than 12 years of age.
On Tuesday, emergency contact numbers on the identity card of schoolchildren proved useful.
Those who rescued schoolchildren from the canal were able to call parents, who came and blamed the school administration for not providing enough transport facilities despite charging heavy fees.
