School bus safety advisory by Early Childhood Association
The above two school
bus incidents in the newspaper caught my attention and it would be good if
schools can follow these simple guidelines that will help make school buses
safe for children.
School bus safety
advisory by Early Childhood Association
Precautions to be
taken in the school bus service-
- Parents should bot
send kids by rickshaws or any vehicle with open doors as a school bus.
· Always use the
authorized school bus service.
1.
It is the duty of
the driver and bus attendant to check the school bus thoroughly before locking
the bus or parking it anywhere.
2. Both driver and bus
attendant must know how to remove children using the emergency door in case of emergencies.
3. School must conduct
mock bus fire drills every 3 months- with actual children.
4. Driver and bus
attendants must know what do do if a bus breaks down and how to keep children
safe.
5. Bus attendant to be
trained to hand over child only to those that have the identity card issued by
the school.
6. Both the driver and
bus attendants should not distribute any food etc. to the children.
7. Both driver and bus
attendants to be strictly advised against smiling, tobacco and drinking.
8. Both driver and bus
attendants should be strictly advised against watching any kind of
indecent/porn content on their mobile phones.
9. Both driver and bus
attendants to be advised against using bad words/language.
10.Both driver and bus
attendants to be advised against giving any one a lift in the bus.
11.Both driver and bus
attendants to be trained in good touch bad touch and educated about the POCSO
law.
12.Both driver and bus
attendants to sign a zero tolerance policy of the school where all the rules
are listed.
Things
required in the bus-
- Lady bus attendant from the school. (ideal 2 lady attendants).
- A mobile phone with all important numbers saved.
- Seat belts if it is a big bus.
- Or handle bars on the seat in the front.
- A first aid box with Band-Aid, Dettol, Cotton, tissues.
- A bottle of clean drinkable water, which is changed every day.
- A list of children that go by bus (in all routes of that particular bus).
- A sign in and sign out book- make parents sign when the child is handed over to bus attendant, then make teacher sign when the child is handed over to the teacher- make teacher sign while picking up the child from school and then make the parent sign once the child is handed to the parent.
- Name of child
- class
- signature of parent- Child handed over by parent
- signature of teacher- child handed over to teacher
- signature of teacher- child taken from teacher
- signature of parents- child handed over to parent
9. A
book with the addresses and phone numbers of the children.
10. Phone numbers of the school, center head.
11.Some books from the library.
12.Enough newspapers to wipe vomiting or other such incidents.
10. Phone numbers of the school, center head.
11.Some books from the library.
12.Enough newspapers to wipe vomiting or other such incidents.
Training Rules for
bus attendant to follow-
- The bus attendant must be trained in all the aspects of bus safety.
- A sign in and sign out book- make parents sign when the child is handed over to bus attendant, then make teacher sign when the child is handed over to the teacher- make teacher sign while picking up the child from school and then make the parent sign once the child is handed to the parent.
- Name of child
- class
- signature of parent- Child handed over by parent
- signature of teacher- child handed over to teacher
- signature of teacher- child taken from teacher
- signature of parents- child handed over to parent
3. She
must check that the mobile phone given to her is in working condition and
charged all the time.
4. She
must check that the interior of the bus is clean at all times, no sharp edges
or broken seats that can harm the child.
5. The
door of the bus must be kept closed during journeys.
6. While
closing the doors the attendant must take care that the child`s hand does not
come in the door.
7. She
must check that the children do not put out their hands from the windows.
8. She
must see the driver drives safely and does not break any traffic rules
9. No
speeding.
10.No
changing the route.
11.She
must see to it that the children are sitting at all times.
12. She
must sit in such a position that he can keep an eye on all the children.
13.She must not eat in the bus
14. She
cannot leave the bus or the children unattended at any time- whether to go to
the loo or buy pan or for any other reason.
15.She
cannot leave the bus and go to. drop/pickup a child
16.Parents
must come to the bus to drop and pick up the child.
17.She
must not listen to any parent about changing the route of the bus even for a
day.
18.She
must not accept any money from them.
19.She
must not take any cheque payments of fees or bus fees etc.
20.In
case of a delay, she must inform the school about it.
21.In
case of an accident or any emergency like a child is sick etc., she must first
inform the school and only do what the center head has informed.
22.In case of a bus break down she should never
leave the children.
23.If
she is not carrying the phone then she must ask the driver to go and make the call,
she cannot leave the children.
While picking up the children from
home-
- She must make the parent sign in the sign in book.
- She must see the child sits property and dose the door taking care of the child's hands.
- After all the children have been picked up she must do a head count and check the number with the sign in.
- On reaching school she will make each child get down without a mishap, she will check that all the belongings of the children have gone with the children.
- She will ensure that all children have alighted from the bus.
- Then she will lead them to the school and drop them to their class or hand them over to the center head.
- She will make whoever takes the children, sign for the children handed over to them.
- She will then give the center head the number of children that have come in each class in the bus.
While bringing the
children from the school
- She goes to the class brings the children, she makes the teacher sign the handover in the book
- She must make sure that each child has his bag and bottle and in case of field trips also the cap.
- She takes them to the bus, makes them sit and closes the door without any mishap.
- Inside she does a head count, checks with the number in the book and only if they tally then she will ask the driver to start.
- While handing over the child to the parent, she must first check the card of the parent.
- She will make them sign out and then handover the child.
- When the last child is dropped she will walk to every part of the bus and check if any child is left behind etc.
