2018It’s Time to Move for School Bus

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Following recent fatal accident, school bus checks kick off nationwide in China According to Xinhua news, twenty-one people, including 19 preschoolers and two adults, died and 43 others were injured when a nine-seat school bus illegally carrying 64 people collided head-on with a coal truck in northwest China’s Gansu Province on Nov.16. Just days following this accident, according to the Ministry of Education earlier this month, with special inspection teams set up at all provincial-level governments, school bus safety checks have started across the country. Beijing has ordered its schools and kindergartens to keep clear records of safety inspections for all their buses and to arrange safety training courses for school bus drivers. In Shanghai, a total of 2,300 school buses will undergo comprehensive checks, including vehicle sanitation and control equipment inspections, by Nov. 25. Meanwhile, the education commission of southwestern Chongqing Municipality arranged for special personnel to anonymously spot-check school bus operations at middle and elementary schools. On Nov. 26, at recent meeting Premier Wen Jiabao pledged central and local government funds to provide and improve school bus services in the wake of the traffic accident that killed 19 preschool children and sparked national outrage. He urged relevant departments of the State Council to “rapidly” formulate safety regulations for school coaches, and said China will accelerate the setting up of standards on design and production. Central and local governments will share the costs on providing more school buses that meet safety requirements, the premier said. However, Wen said a lot of local governments have failed to meet the rapidly increased demand for safe school buses or established sound management systems. Officials will face investigations into their liability if tragedies such as the one in Gansu occur again, he warned. “School buses should be safe mobile campuses for students,” Wen said. “Society should bear in mind that children should be the first to enjoy all kinds of social welfare and the last ones to suffer from any disaster.” Yuan Guilin, an education professor at Beijing Normal University who is known for his research into rural education, has proposed that all school buses should be equipped with black boxes, adding that it is achievable and affordable. The government should also improve the wages and benefits for drivers to prevent them from taking extra jobs and often driving while tired, he said. Given that some authorities complain that they are short of money, Yuan suggested they be allowed to sell advertising space on school buses. Gan Yuanchun, a lawyer in Changsha, capital of Hunan province, who participated in a campaign to promote school bus safety, said the central government should encourage the use of smaller school buses in rural areas, as roads in remote countryside areas are not as wide as in cities. Students’ parents should also be able to get involved in deciding how school buses are managed, he added. Figures from the National Bureau of Statistics show that only about 56.6 percent of Chinese children under the age of 6 were able to enroll in kindergarten last year, although the rate rose by about 22 percent compared with 2000. In rural areas, especially in western parts, many children are struggling to receive quality preschool education because public kindergartens are scarce and most private ones often do not have qualified teachers or hardware. More rural students now have to travel long distances to schools in counties or cities, as the number of village schools has declined due to consolidation efforts. The 1st China School Buses Development Seminar  another bar would come out from one side of the bus, warning other vehicles to stop. Germany: A large school bus could transport students of several schools. Germany has strict rules. School buses must have stations, and stop at the specific site. School buses must send out clear light signals when pulling into and out of the station, at which time other vehicles must not surpass the school bus. Parents must make sure the children have enough time to get on the bus in order to prevent them from getting hurt while catching the bus. Britain: The British police found over 250 school buses that did not meet the requirements on driving safety in a nationwide inspection in 2000. At that time, 50% of the parents did not want their children to ride school buses. Britain later carried out large-scale reform of school buses, and made high-quality buses at high costs. New school buses were put into use in 2003. The color of the bus was changed into the universal deep yellow from the nation’s traditional color of red. It is legislated that school buses shall take responsibility for the safety of all the children on board, with or without insurance.