Education ministry speaks out on school bus safety

In the wake of recent accidents that involved students in Kigali, the Ministry of Education has called for concerted efforts between parents, school leaders and city authorities to improve the safety of pupils who use school buses. The development comes after it emerged that buses that transport students were in poor mechanical condition, lacked proper documentation, with reckless drivers operating some. Speaking during the Kigali City Education Forum, in Remera, yesterday, the State Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, Olivier Rwamukwaya, said some buses lacked standards while others were too old to be entrusted with lives of students. “Some of these buses were stopped from transporting people after becoming old. Owners then decided to use them to transport students as a way to make money but this is wrong. It is not about having the yellow colour, if a bus was stopped from passenger service how then can it be safe for students?” posed Rwamukwaya. Condemning bus drivers for recklessness, and drunk driving, the minister asked school authorities and parents to work closely with bus companies in stopping such habits. “Your role should not stop at watching children leave for school or wait for them to return. School heads should be able to establish whether the vehicles have the necessary documentation and are in proper mechanical condition. You need to find out who is behind the wheels and parents can collaborate with each other to follow up,” he added. Recent incidents of accidents that involved school buses include one in Kanombe, Kiyovu and one below RSSB complex at Muhima. In the past five months most people who died due to road accidents were pedestrians and they include students. Ten students students lost lives due to these accidents, according to Supt Jean Marie Vianney Ndushabandi, the Spokesperson for Traffic and Road Safety Department of the Rwanda National Police. On a similar note, Ndushabandi pointed out that some parents delegate roles to motorcycle riders who remain in charge of picking up their children from home to school and this is very risky. “One parent may have three children but will force all of them to sit on one motorcycle. It is illegal, some people see this on a daily basis but they don’t report it,” he said. However, Ndushabandi warned the public about sharing photos of accident victims on social media. “It is totally wrong, we need to respect the dead,” he added. Meanwhile, the City Vice Mayor in charge of Social Affairs, Judith Kazayire, said teachers at all levels need to work with a representative at the district level to ensure student safety. “School officials and parents should make regular follow ups. We need to create this arrangement to ensure that students remain safe,” she said. Joyce Karamba, the head teacher of Kigali Junior School, called on authorities and bus companies to provide uniforms and badges to bus drivers to restrict them from engaging in risky behaviour. “If we provided these drivers with uniforms and badges it would limit them from engaging in habits such as alcoholism,” said Karamba. Crack down on schools While commenting on illegal operation of schools, Minister Rwamukwaya vowed to crack a whip on ‘international schools’ that do not meet standards. “There are laws governing setting up schools, you don’t just wake up with a name and open a school. We need to start doing things the right way,” said Rwamukwaya. He pointed out that following investigations the ministry found that some schools were operating without the necessary requirements, including staff. “We gave them two months to release reports but we discovered that most of them were doing things the wrong way. Some of them who claimed to teach Cambridge programmes had incompetent teachers and others had shoddy structures,” he added without naming any school. On sports activities, the minister pointed out that, beginning next month, schools will be required to engage in sports activities every first Saturday of each month. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Education ministry speaks out on school bus safety