Schools need simple rules
Another child has died needlessly because of the criminal ignorance of a deficient school transportation system. Three-year-old Nuran Adiya Ma was left locked in the school van when prekindergarten activities began last Wednesday at her Bamrung Muslim School in Pattani. The terrible result was revealed when her mother arrived to pick her up in midafternoon. The van driver is under arrest, the school head and teachers are shocked, the family is grieving.
The worst part of Nuran Adiya’s death is how careless it was. The child is just the latest in a too-long list of the same unacceptable behaviour by schools and contractors. Just two months ago, another young child died in exactly the same circumstances. Children picked up home fall asleep as the school van makes its rounds from home to home to gather children. The van arrives at the school, the child fails to awaken, the driver and supervisor both overlook the sleeping child, and death occurs.
These are completely avoidable deaths. While the van drivers are arrested for their carelessness, no time in prison ever can make up for the loss of a child whose potential never will be known or met. And it is only infuriating when the apologists point out that babies die when locked in cars in the West. There are an average 37 babies who die inside locked cars in America, for example, but they all are the result of careless and criminal parents or relatives. A currently viral news video shows a policeman rescuing an almost-dead child from a car where she was locked by a mother who went off to buy liquor and “forgot” her locked-in daughter for 12 hours.
The school van is a frighteningly efficient child killer. When the vehicle is parked and the doors are locked, the temperature inside rises above 40C in a few minutes, and above 50C in short order. This occurs from the manner of construction of the van, and happens whether it is parked in the direct sunlight or in the shade, indoors or out. As the heat grows stifling, the tight doors and windows — inoperable by a child by design — also cause oxygen to begin running out.
The body of three-year-old Nuran Adiya Ma was found on the van floor, with a bloody nose. Police say she had obviously thrashed about in panic as the heat took its toll. The contracting van driver admitted he had not checked when he locked up the vehicle. Usually his wife rode with him and took responsibility for getting all children off to class safely, but she was ill on Wednesday and and did not accompany the home-pickup service.
It is unacceptable that schools cooperatively, and the Ministry of Education singly have failed to adopt a simple procedure to stop these child deaths. Every school and van driver must have a check list, noting each pickup from home and arrival at school. Both the driver and teacher or aide guiding the children off the van must account for each child.
And one more item must be added, that would have saved Nuran Adiya’s life. When her mother arrived to pick her up, the child’s teacher was surprised, because she had assumed the three-year-old had been kept at home. If a child fails to appear for class, the school head or designated aide or teacher must contact the parents to check why.
All students who ride a van to school also can help each other. They should be taught in class to awaken sleeping classmates when the bus or van pulls up to the school, and to alert the driver and teachers if they don’t get off. This also could be the decisive step that could save a life.
The school van is a frighteningly efficient child killer. When the vehicle is parked and the doors are locked, the temperature inside rises above 40C in a few minutes, and above 50C in short order.