Many school buses have no insurance cover – Director

The Eastern Regional Director of the Department of Children, Mr Anthony Dontoh, has observed most school buses had no insurance cover or road worthiness, which poses a danger to the children.

He has therefore called on the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) to ensure that school buses observed road traffic regulations since school buses were no different from other vehicles.

Mr Dontoh, who made the observation at the graduation ceremony of the Aggrey Early Childhood Development Centre in Koforidua, emphasized that, children’s comfort and security should not be sacrificed for the benefit of the school.

He said though school bus service was helpful to parents it was a profit venture for the schools and therefore must not be allowed to operate under poor conditions at the expense of the safety of the children.

According to the Regional Director many of the vehicles had no road worthiness, insurance cover and even the drivers had no valid driving licenses but because they were using school buses they were allowed to operate.

He advised parents not to allow school authorities to make money at the expense of their wards safety in the name of helping them because the buses were cheaper than hiring taxis.

Mr Dontoh urged parents to be interested in their wards future and find a way of coming to a consensus with the school authorities on how best the school buses would be made safe for their children.

Mrs Patricia Osei- Appaw, the proprietress of the school, called on parents to be interested in their wards education by visiting and calling the schools attention to issues to ensure that their children had the best treatment at school.

She advised parents to be serious with the moral training of their children because after all if a child goes wayward it was the name of the parents and family that suffers the shame but when a child excels it was the school that would take the praises.

Source: GNA