How does the court ruling on schools not operating buses for their students impact them
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uru Mangat Road, which is otherwise a wide passage , routinely turns into a bottleneck as vehicles occupy every inch of the road near a private school, at certain times of the day.
The traffic is jammed for a good couple of hours. It spills over to the adjacent roads, including MM Alam Road and the Gulberg Main Boulevard.
There are other schools on Guru Mangat Road as well which contribute similarly to the chaos on the roads. “Both when the schools open and close we put extra effort into managing the traffic,” says Rana Arif, a spokesperson for the city traffic police.
But traffic is only one aspect of the issue. The problem has sparked debate around environmental pollution and the need for urban planning. All of which led the Lahore High Court to intervene. On December 31, the LHC mandated all schools across the Punjab to provide buses for their students. It also gave the schools a month’s time to make the necessary arrangements.
Justice Shahid Karim, who was presiding over the case, ruled that the registration of schools without transport plans be suspended.
Following the court’s ruling, the Punjab government issued notices to private schools, seeking details on their action plan by the end of the winter break. The secretary of Punjab School Education Department, Khalid Nazir Wattoo, said that the issue must be taken seriously. “Failure to comply will result in the cancellation of school registrations,” he declared, adding that schools must provide transportation for at least 50 percent of their students.
The policy is being attributed to the growing public concern over smog and environmental degradation. Justice Karim observed that school owners possessed sufficient resources to implement the rules, and stressed that the directives must be enforced before the next smog season arrives. He also instructed the LDA to devise a comprehensive traffic plan for the city.
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or school administrations, however, the new policy poses a few challenges. Muhammad Kamran Malik, the principal of KIMS on Chaudhry Zahoor Elahi Road, says he has reservations about the bus contractors.
“Justice Shahid Karim is taking a keen interest in the matter. We respect his decisions,” says Malik. However, six days after the judgment, it became evident that not all relevant information had been presented to him. The government representatives as well as lawyers had been unable to assist the court in a satisfactory way.
About the logistics, Malik says, “Lahore has 4-5 million school-going children. If schools arrange buses for all students as well as staff, the sheer number of buses will overwhelm the city roads. For a school with 500 students, managing transport for even 50 percent will require enormous resources.
He also says that renting the buses would cost a fortune. A bus is believed to cost approximately Rs 300,000 per month. “A school with 10 buses would require Rs 3 million a month, which most schools cannot afford,” he adds.
He also says most schools have women principals who lack expertise in managing transport operations. “This means that every school will have to set up a transport department. This will require more human resource and more salaries.”
“Lahore has 4-5 million school-going children. If schools arrange transport for all students and staff, the sheer number of buses will overwhelm the city roads. For a school with 500 students, managing transport for even 50 percent would require enormous resources.”
In the end, Malik says the solution lay in a government intervention. “The government should establish a public transport system with designated routes and invest in town planning to ensure that schools are closer to the students’ homes.
“When was the last time the government built new primary, middle or high schools in Lahore? Education has largely been left to the private sector. Even public schools are being privatised.”
Kashif Mirza, president of the All Pakistan Private Schools Federation, also regards the court’s directive as “impractical.”
“There are 52,000 public and 104,000 private schools in the Punjab. Implementing the policy will require approximately 300,000 new buses. This could aggravate environmental degradation and require at least 5 to 10 years to implement.”
Moreover, the policy will financially strain private schools, he adds.
“Most low-cost private schools lack resources to purchase buses that cost Rs 50-100 million each. Government support in the form of grants, subsidies and interest-free loans is therefore needed to make this initiative viable.”
He has called for the order to be reviewed, stating that schools and parents were not given the opportunity to present their perspectives.
He says he expects parents to resist the policy: “A survey conducted by the APPSF found that most parents was not willing to send their children to school on [school] buses, due to safety concerns,” Mirza says. “The government should instead focus on providing affordable, eco-friendly public transport options, and ensure a robust security plan for school buses.”
Mian Imran Masood Sheikh, another representative of private schools, says, “The honourable court’s directives on smog control are well-intentioned, but the idea of mandating private schools to provide buses poses significant challenges.”
“Many a parent views transport provided by schools as optional. They’re hesitant to use it. Safety concerns, traffic congestion and delays make parents reluctant to opt for school buses,” he says.
He suggests that the government introduce electric buses or create a dedicated department to manage student transportation. “A cultural shift is needed to build trust among parents,” he says, adding that broad measures targeting major contributors of air pollution, such as rickshaws and motorcycles, are also crucial.
Parents are divided on the issue. Gulberg-based Syed Rizwan Haider, a NADRA employee, drops his two children at school; his college-going daughter commutes on a high-roof van. “I wouldn’t prefer a school bus for my younger children. For my daughter, it seems okay,” he says.
Dr Muzammil, who lives close to the Lahore Grammar School’s Ghalib Market branch, welcomes the idea.
“The area becomes a no-go zone in the morning and afternoon because of the influx of vehicles. School buses can resolve this issue,” he hopes.
Ahsan Malik is a media veteran interested in politics, consumer rights and entrepreneurship