CBSE issues guidelines on school buses

NEWDELHI:All schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will now have to depute guards on school buses and fit the vehicles with closed circuit television cameras (CCTVs), GPS systems, sirens and grills on windows.

Additionally, such school buses would need to have one “well-trained lady attendant” and, if possible, a parent overseeing the driver and conductor.

The education board revised guidelines on Thursday, asking authorities to fortify security on school buses and holding the management and head of the institutions responsible for any lapse, which could lead to cancellation of affiliation.

According to officials, the guidelines were issued on the directions of human resource development minister Prakash Javadekar after a school bus accident in Uttar Pradesh in January that killed 12 schoolchildren.

The circular is applicable for all 18,000 CBSE-affiliated schools, including Kendriya Vidyalayas.

“The windows of the bus should be fitted with horizontal grilles with mesh wire,” reads the circular.