Ministries work together to improve school bus safety

 

A school bus picks up students at Nguyễn Tất Thành Primary School in northern Nam Định Province. Ministries are working together to improve regulations for all school bus services. — VNA/VNS Photo 

HÀ NỘI — Tighter regulations are being planned on school buses, after one child died and another needed hospital treatment when they were left on board for hours unnoticed over the past two months.

The Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) has asked the Ministry of Transport to formulate regulations on school bus services in an effort to ensure student safety.

The MoET said the school bus service had been developed recently, but there were no specific laws to regulate the service.

Many countries have strict rules on technical standards for school buses as well as a system of legal corridors to implement regulations to ensure the safety of pupils.

The transport ministry will now look into legal provisions and guidelines.

In August, the MoET required departments to inspect schools using private bus services.

It recommended schools must choose licensed companies and drivers must have strong ethics and follow road safety.

Schools were also told to end contracts with companies whose drivers did not observe traffic laws. 

In the past two months, there have been two cases of children being left on school buses.

On August 6, a six-year-old boy at Hà Nội’s Gateway School was found dead after being left abandoned on a bus for hours. 

The school bus monitor, Nguyễn Bích Quy, and the bus driver, Doãn Quý Phiến, are being prosecuted for unintentional murder and manslaughter. Quy has been released on bail while Phiến has been placed under house arrest.

The second incident happened on September 13 when a three-year-old boy was found inside a school bus of Đồ Rê Mí Private Kindergarten in northern Bắc Ninh Province.

He was treated for heat stroke, fever and dehydration after being left alone on the bus for seven hours. — VNS