BANGALORE: The city traffic police have issued orders bringing four more schools under the Safe Roads to School programme. Managements of these schools will now have students transported to and from school on buses, while parking of private vehicles near the school gates is prohibited.

National Public School, Indiranagar; St John's High School, Promenade Road; St. Francis Xavier School and St Germaine's, both near Coles Park, are the schools coming under the regulations, which will be enforced within two weeks.

Traffic police officers visited these schools on Tuesday to finalise arrangements for private vehicles to enter the campuses to drop and pick up children though most students are expected to travel on buses engaged by the schools.

These four schools were among the 16 schools which were to come under the Safe Roads to School programme in July, but were left out because the managements or the police felt infrastructure such as adequate parking space was not available. Unlike in July, where there was a lot of communication gap, which made many parents resist the idea of sending their children by bus, there is hardly any opposition now, the police say.

`No change'

Some parents, who are still sceptical, have pointed out that there is no visible change in traffic chaos near Bishop Cotton Boys' School or Baldwin Girls School. The police have said the number of vehicles during school timings has come down since parents can drive inside the school compounds to drop or pick up children. There are other unrelated causes for the traffic jams on Richmond Road or Residency Road, the police maintain.

Arrangements

The four schools are gearing up to meet the requirements. St John's is busy creating adequate parking space and exit and entry points inside the school compound. St Germaine has provided an additional gate. The police and school authorities will work out alternative arrangements at both National Public School and St. Xavier's which lack adequate parking space. At all these schools, senior students will act as volunteers to guide the parents dropping and picking up children.

According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic-East) M. Abdullah Saleem, the programme is to ensure that school children travel in relative safety. The buses hired from the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation will have specially trained drivers and schools using their own buses can have their staff accompanying the students, he said. Over the past three months, the majority of students and parents got used to the idea and have supported it, he claimed.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail