Secure safe transport for your schooling child

Early this year, the First Lady, and minister of Education Janet Museveni, expressed her concern in regards transportation for school-going children.

Speaking to journalists at State House in Nakasero, she suggested, “If parents cannot afford school shuttles, they should walk their children to school or escort them on boda bodas in order to ensure they are safe.”
According to the Museveni, parents are the first persons responsible for their children’s security to and from school.

She recommended: “Parents should take up the responsibility to ensure that they follow up their children to be safely dropped off to school and back home.”
But what is the safest option to consider when it comes to securing transport means for school-going children?

Do not compromise safety
When considering which means of transport is secure for your child, you may need to know what is most affordable and available for you that does not compromise your child’s safety.

“My son used to arrive home late and very exhausted. The school shuttle would make rounds around Kirinya, Banda, before dropping him off in Seeta. Besides, it was costly too. I decided to transport him to and from school myself. However, I ensure that he is always kept warm in a jacket and he tightly clings to my back as I ride,” narrates Samuel Kiwanuka, a boda boda rider.

Similarly, Sandra Mutesi was disappointed that her son was made to sit on the engine (kameme) of a commuter taxi as she returned home from school with her aunt.

“Being a single mother with a demanding job, I would send my sister to pick up my children from school. However, I became uncomfortable when my youngest revealed he was once made to sit on the kameme of a taxi, which was hot. I, therefore, had to opt for the school shuttle,” shares Mutesi, a mother of four.

Consider private options
Damalie Wasukira, the communications officer at Safe Boda Uganda, a private boda boda transport company, says parents should ensure the boda boda they pick for their child has a helmet. “Besides helmets, the company assigns a professional rider for a child and a unique identity card number to drop and pick them up from school,” she says.

Hellen Ayo, the managing director of Maria Kid’s Shuttle, a private company that provides transport to and from school, says parents and schools should ensure comfortable and convenient transportation for their children.

She says, “We understand the need for school-going children to reach home safe and in time, so we ensure that we avoid delays in every possible way,” explains Ayo.

According to Ayo, a child’s safety is a vital element. “We have a specific number of children we carry to avoid congestion in the shuttle. We also encourage them to wear seat belts and also have female drivers who understand children better,” she adds.

Who is responsible?
According to Patrick Nasinyama, a lawyer at Paul Byaruhanga Advocates, both the school and parent are held responsible by law for safe transportation of a school-going child.

He says: “If a child gets knocked down by a car on their way home from school, both the school and parents are to blame. The school should be concerned about who should accompany a child home from school. Parents too should be responsible to ensure their children are safely transported or accompanied from school.”

As the popular African saying goes, “It takes a village to raise a child”, it should therefore be everyone’s duty to see that school-going children get safe transport means.