Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu has unveiled plans to put a new face to all school buses in the country after an increased number of accidents.
Speaking on Wednesday before Parliament, Machogu said that the Ministry of Transport has initiated a plan to ensure school buses are designed in a way that ensures comfort to those on board.
The CS added that the vehicles on the roads ferrying school children are similar to lorries and luggage vehicles and do not qualify to be used as buses.
“We take the chassis of a lorry and then say you want to buy a bus. The effect of this is that when an accident occurs, chances of it killing the students are high,” he stated.
He called upon stakeholders in the education sector to back this initiative to ensure no students are lost in road accidents.
Machogu’s sentiments follow Nominated MP Kosgei Jackson Kipkemoi’s concerns on the safety of students being ferried in vehicles that do not meet standards.
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Kipkemoi argued that the ministry was risking the lives of students by allowing these buses on the roads.
“These school buses should have two mandatory features, these are emergency and comfort and safety.
I am wondering whether the ministry and the government have established a must policy on all the management of schools that dictate how these buses are built,” he stated.
Accidents involving school buses have recently been on the rise, with the government calling on drivers to take extra caution.
Last Saturday, three pupils died, and four others were seriously injured in an accident involving a school bus in Murang’a County.
The bus belonging to Maadili Schools in Juja, Kiambu County, overturned at Gitugi area in Murang’a County as it was transporting pupils from a scouting event in Nyeri. It overturned after the driver reportedly failed to negotiate a road bend.
Following the accident, Speed Governors and Road Safety Association Chairman Edward Gitonga called on the relevant authorities to enforce a requirement that vehicles transporting school children should not be on the roads after 6:00 pm.
“We would rather have parents spending more money on accommodation of their children, rather than subjecting them to situations that could lead to possible loss of lives through accidents,” Gitonga said.