Chandigarh: St Kabir seeks nod to allow kids to board buses outside school
In a letter to authorities, the school administrator has pointed that the school’s building plans, sanctioned in 1989, do not have provision for buses to enter the campus
Following a meeting of senior superintendent of police (SSP, Traffic) and UT director school education with the schools and other educational institutions located in Sector 26 over the traffic gridlock here, St Kabir Public School, one of the five schools situated along the road, has written to the authorities to allow students to board and deboard buses from outside the school premises.
The letter written by school administrator Gurpreet Bakshi points out how when the school’s building plans were sanctioned in 1989, the school was allowed only one gate for entry and exit of students and as such there was no requirement for the buses to enter the school building for boarding and deboarding of students, and there is no provision for this in the current infrastructure.
Bakshi highlighted that under the Safe Transportation Policy for Students (STRAPS) policy of the UT transport department, under the responsibilities of school management it has been mentioned that all schools and educational institutions having parking areas inside the boundary walls shall ensure that children are dropped inside the boundary walls by the vehicles.
However, in case such an arrangement is not possible, a separate area may be demarcated outside the school for boarding and deboarding of school children.
The school said with the way the school has been designed it is virtually impossible for the students to board the buses inside the school safely. The school has tried this exercise for three days but found it hard to ensure children safely board the buses. Bakshi has suggested that buses be allowed to be parked on the side of the slip road, along the boundary wall of the school and the entire exercise will take only 15 minutes during departure.
He has also asked if a third gate be allowed along the wall towards the lake. This way buses can enter and exit from different gates. “We are not at odds with the administration and want to keep the children safe. Our school has a unique problem that we want to separately take up with them,” Bakshi added, talking about the letter.
On Tuesday, it was decided that Butterfly Park will be made one-way when the schools close for the day. Vehicles won’t be allowed to park on the road. Here only it was decided that boarding and deboarding of students on buses will be done from within the school premises.
The proposal has been implemented temporarily for about a week, and a second meeting may also be called to reassess the situation. The situation has meanwhile already started improving.
The principal of Strawberry Fields High School, Nisha Kaul, said, “The traffic was smoother on Wednesday after the implementation of a one-way system on the Butterfly Park road.”
UT director school education Harsuhinderpal Singh Brar said it was a pilot project that was being tested out for seven to 10 days. He said the issue raised by St Kabir Public School will be considered before the traffic plan here was finalised.
