Alarm by concerned parents has been raised over the rise of unroadworthy school vans within Nairobi County.
According to the parents of both public and private schools, numerous reports have been recorded with the NTSA and traffic police of various police stations where both entities have been pointing fingers at each other on whose responsibility to act.
“I have personally gone to NTSA to report on unroadworthy van operating in a school where my son schools and I was referred to the traffic police of a police station near the school who in turn returned me back to the NTSA as it is their responsibility to inspect if school vans have complied with all necessary requirements,” a parent who sought anonymity said.
According to a board member of one of the international schools who refused to be named as he is not the authorized person to speak on behalf of the school refuted the claims saying that the school buses are fully controlled and do not move around without any authorization.
“Our inspections of the school buses are up to date. During the holidays all vehicles were taken for service and I am shocked to hear of the concerns,” the board member said.
The vice is also being experienced in public schools where concerned parents have reported of non-compliant school vans picking and dropping pupils within the school.
In another incident pupils of a Nairobi Primary School had a fortunate escape from a potentially dangerous situation when an alert pedestrian raised the alarm concerning the unroadworthy condition of a school van they had been using.
The van had been contracted by a primary school to provide transportation services for the pupils.
The van had stalled due to lack of fuel and several pedestrians came to the rescue, assisting in pushing the disabled van off the road.
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One observant pedestrian noticed a peculiar altercation of a nail beneath the acceleration pedal deliberately welded to prevent the driver from accelerating and posed a serious safety hazard.
This modification restricts the driver’s ability to accelerate the vehicle, potentially leading to dangerous situations on the road.
The matter was reported to NTSA and was acted upon.
On 2nd September this year Justice Roselyne Aburili of the High Court in Kisumu made a ruling that schools purchase buses and insure them for use by students and staff only, directing that boards of management of schools be served with her judgment.
In March this year NTSA listed five key conditions that school transport must meet before embarking on ferrying students.
“Remember, school transport, like all Public Service Vehicles, must have a valid Road Service Licence (RSL),” NTSA said in a statement on X.
NTSA said school transport must also have a valid inspection certificate and the vehicle be fitted with a functional speed limiter.
“The driver must have the requisite Drivers License class endorsement and a valid PSV badge,” NTSA said.
“We urge all schools to ensure compliance with traffic rules and regulations. Let us all ensure our children are safe.”
NTSA also noted that it was expecting the vehicles to be fitted with functional seatbelts which the students can use during their transportation to and from school.
Additionally, the authority warned schools against disregarding the vehicle capacity limit. NTSA revealed that action would be taken against schools that overload.
The guidelines came in the backdrop of cases of accidents involving school buses.
In April this year NTSA Director General George Njao said that they identified a risk on school transport, not the regulated school buses but parents who have contracted certain individuals to provide transport for their school-going children.
Njao said the regulations followed concerns that some vehicles that parents join forces to hire are dilapidated and largely unregulated.
“We have enhanced the regulations to introduce technology. The vehicles will be fitted with telematics and dashboard cameras to monitor the behaviour of drivers and occupants,” Njao said.
“We have heard from the Education Ministry of harassment and bullying in school transport systems. The idea is to give parents the comfort of knowing where their child has been picked and dropped, and how the vehicle is being operated,” the NTSA director general said.
In the rules, NTSA calls for vehicles transporting children to have minders on board, for instance, to help them cross the road and check on their general safety.
In a recent accident which occurred at the Gitaru-Kikuyu Road in Kiambu County in August between a school bus and a trailer left two people dead. Police said the accident happened after the driver of a hired school bus lost control and rammed into a stalled trailer at a known dangerous spot.
The vehicles which offer transport services for school going children despite being reported to be unroadworthy are still operational and have never been flagged down by traffic police or NTSA.
The parents have now laid blame to the authority for slumbering in their jobs since the school vans are in operation with also school administrations not acting for pupils safety.
By Felix Wanderi
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