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One child, one seat: Uganda must make school transport safe
I watched a Toyota Ipsum carrying children to school. Five little children were squeezed into the front seat beside the driver. I couldn’t count how many were packed into the middle and back rows. I kept asking myself one question: Are we waiting for a tragedy before we act?
James S. Katumba. (Courtesy)
By: Admin ., Journalist @New Vision
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OPINION
By James S. Katumba
Uganda has normalised transporting children in vehicles that would never be considered safe by most adults if they were the passengers.
This morning in Nabbingo, I watched a Toyota Ipsum carrying children to school. Five little children were squeezed into the front seat beside the driver. I couldn’t count how many were packed into the middle row and into the back row. I kept asking myself one question: Are we waiting for a tragedy before we act?
That scene is not unusual. It is repeated every school day across Uganda. Beginning as early as 5:00 am, thousands of children climb into Toyota Ipsum cars, Noahs, HiAce and Super Custom vans, Coaster and Rosa minibuses among other vehicles on their way to school. Many are packed shoulder to shoulder, sitting on each other’s laps or squeezed into spaces never designed to carry passengers. The same journey is repeated every evening, often until 8:00 pm., after remedial lessons and co-curricular activities.
The problem does not end with the daily home-to-school journey. Every week, countless children are transported in similarly overloaded vehicles to swimming lessons, sports competitions, music festivals, educational visits and other school activities. Too often, the same dangerous practice is repeated simply because the destination is considered “nearby.” Yet a collision a few kilometres from school can be just as devastating as one hundreds of kilometres away.
We have become so accustomed to this daily reality that many of us no longer see the danger. Overloaded school transport has become normal. It should not be.
The recent deaths of pupils returning from an educational trip in Kapchorwa have shaken the nation and prompted the government to suspend school field trips while safety measures are reviewed. The tragedy has rightly sparked difficult conversations about the safety of school travel. But while our attention has been on educational field trips, we risk overlooking a much larger issue. Every single morning and every single afternoon, thousands of children are transported to and from school in vehicles that are overcrowded, inadequately supervised, and often unsuitable for carrying so many young passengers. Right now we are asking how to make educational field trips safer. We should also be asking how our children travel to school every single day.
The economics behind the current status quo are easy to understand. Parents are busy. Dedicated school buses are expensive. Transport operators earn more when more children fit into a vehicle. Schools want affordable transport options for families. But none of these realities justifies putting children’s lives at unnecessary risk. If three adults were squeezed into the front seat of a Toyota Ipsum, traffic police would immediately stop the vehicle. Yet when the passengers are primary school children, many simply drive by. That double standard should trouble us. We shouldn’t wait for another school transport tragedy before deciding that enough is enough.
Uganda needs a strong national standard for transporting learners safely. Here are a few suggestions.
We have become so accustomed to this daily reality that many of us no longer see the danger. Overloaded school transport has become normal. It should not be.
The recent deaths of pupils returning from an educational trip in Kapchorwa have shaken the nation and prompted the government to suspend school field trips while safety measures are reviewed. The tragedy has rightly sparked difficult conversations about the safety of school travel. But while our attention has been on educational field trips, we risk overlooking a much larger issue. Every single morning and every single afternoon, thousands of children are transported to and from school in vehicles that are overcrowded, inadequately supervised, and often unsuitable for carrying so many young passengers. Right now we are asking how to make educational field trips safer. We should also be asking how our children travel to school every single day.
The economics behind the current status quo are easy to understand. Parents are busy. Dedicated school buses are expensive. Transport operators earn more when more children fit into a vehicle. Schools want affordable transport options for families. But none of these realities justifies putting children’s lives at unnecessary risk. If three adults were squeezed into the front seat of a Toyota Ipsum, traffic police would immediately stop the vehicle. Yet when the passengers are primary school children, many simply drive by. That double standard should trouble us. We shouldn’t wait for another school transport tragedy before deciding that enough is enough.
Uganda needs a strong national standard for transporting learners safely. Here are a few suggestions.
- First, every vehicle used to transport school children should be licensed and approved specifically for that purpose. Schools should only contract transport providers whose vehicles meet defined safety requirements.
- Second, passenger limits must be strictly enforced. The rule should be simple: One Child. One Seat. No child should be transported on another child’s lap. No vehicle should carry more passengers than it was designed to accommodate. Schools and transport providers that ignore this standard should face meaningful penalties.
- Third, schools themselves must be held accountable. Every school should publish minimum safety standards for vehicles transporting its learners, whether the vehicles belong to the school or to private operators contracted by parents.
- Fourth, parents should demand better. The cheapest transport is not the cheapest if it compromises a child’s safety. Parents have tremendous influence through the choices they make and the questions they ask.
- Finally, enforcement must become proactive rather than reactive. Police, district local governments, and education inspectors should routinely inspect school transport vehicles before tragedy strikes, not only after it does.
Some may argue that these measures will increase transport costs. Perhaps they will. But the price of safer transport is insignificant compared to the cost of losing a child. Every parent expects their child to return home safely after school. That expectation should not depend on luck. Our children deserve more than good classrooms and committed teachers. They deserve safe journeys to and from school.
The writer is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Wezesha Impact and a Public Voices Fellow Tackling Poverty, a partnership of Acumen and The OpEd Project.
- Second, passenger limits must be strictly enforced. The rule should be simple: One Child. One Seat. No child should be transported on another child’s lap. No vehicle should carry more passengers than it was designed to accommodate. Schools and transport providers that ignore this standard should face meaningful penalties.
- Third, schools themselves must be held accountable. Every school should publish minimum safety standards for vehicles transporting its learners, whether the vehicles belong to the school or to private operators contracted by parents.
- Fourth, parents should demand better. The cheapest transport is not the cheapest if it compromises a child’s safety. Parents have tremendous influence through the choices they make and the questions they ask.
- Finally, enforcement must become proactive rather than reactive. Police, district local governments, and education inspectors should routinely inspect school transport vehicles before tragedy strikes, not only after it does.
Some may argue that these measures will increase transport costs. Perhaps they will. But the price of safer transport is insignificant compared to the cost of losing a child. Every parent expects their child to return home safely after school. That expectation should not depend on luck. Our children deserve more than good classrooms and committed teachers. They deserve safe journeys to and from school.
The writer is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Wezesha Impact and a Public Voices Fellow Tackling Poverty, a partnership of Acumen and The OpEd Project.