Bus! Parents to get lessons

State transport commissioner Deepak Kapoor is planning to educate parents about guidelines formulated for vehicles which ferry schoolchildren. Kapoor is organising meetings with school principals and members of parent-teacher associations (PTAs) from all schools.

“We want to educate the parents through their respective PTAs. Parents need to be taken into consideration when policies are made. We cannot sit and design the guidelines for a model school bus without parents’ consent. Also, Mumbai consists of a diverse population. While some parents can afford school bus services, some will prefer to send their children using private vehicles as they come cheaper,” said Kapoor.

“Since it is difficult for us to keep parents away from using private vehicles, our main concern now is students’ safety. We already have  a set of guidelines ready prepared by us with the help of Mumbai  Metropolitan Regional Development Authority.”

The meetings will be arranged with the help of education officers from municipal corporations of the MMR region. “We will have to conduct a series of meetings with the school heads and their PTAs to address issues specific to certain areas,” said Kapoor. 

The first meeting will be conducted from the  second week of September. Suggestions also will be taken from parents’ groups.

The parent-teacher associations’ united forum feels the idea initiated by the commissioner is proactive. “More than 80% of students in the city do not travel by school buses. They either rely on private vehicles or are stuffed in autorickshaws.

All schools cannot offer bus services to all students. Parents always look for cheaper options, which can put lives of students at risk. Schools are also to be blamed,” said the forum’s president Arundhati Chavan.