Why my daughter will never board the school bus again

Like all parents, news that a six-year-                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  old child had been crushed to death by a school bus in Mombasa, was truly heart wrenching.

This is the second time a school bus has crushed a young learner and in both incidences, there was recklessness on the part of the school. Somebody must be made to answer for that needless death.

Being an observant and perhaps a busy body parent (I visit my daughter's school every two weeks to access the toilets, buses, and kitchen) I have seen some level of laxity, recklessness and casual nature when it comes to facilities like school transport. And this is common in most private schools. I have also had a not-so-nice experience with school transport at my daughter Tasha's school. A few years back when she was in kindergarten, I had enrolled her to use the bus, but I had to stop abruptly after her incessant complaints.

One day, she came back from school and declared: "Muuuum I am not ever going to school if I have to use that bus again." And she gave me solid reasons.

1. Bus bullies: Picture this scenario. A 64-seater bus packed with students from Class Six to baby class. In the bus, there is Sebastian, the bus bully. The official back bencher, he has a way of bullying the little ones and terrorising them while the teachers are not looking. My daughter was always a soft target because of her tiny frame.

2. Teachers lost in their own world: Speaking of teachers, while in the buses some teachers rarely give the minors any attention. "Mum the teacher sometimes falls asleep and when I wake her for assistance, she quarrels me," my daughter used to tell me whenever I ask her why she did not alert teacher Judy when Sebatian was pinching her tiny ears. Having woken up too early, some teachers extend their unfinished sleep in the bus.

3. Congestion: Since National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) officers rarely bother with school buses and the owner of the school wants to save on cost, you find a 32-seater bus is packed with 50 students. That means a seat that accommodates two has to squeeze in two more. Have you seen how miserable some of them look crammed in that bus?

4. Unnecessary trips: It is unfair for a child in kindergarten to be dropped home at 6 pm just because she lives in the farthest point from the school. They are tiny, tired and downtrodden.

5. Tired old bus: Again, because nobody inspects the buses, many of them are in a sorry state - from the seats to the floors. Like the case of the killer St Augustine Academy bus that had a gaping hole that was covered in PVC carpet.

These are the weighty complaints Tasha made and after I did my research and discovered what she was saying was true, she stopped riding in that bus. I have raised these pertinent issues during parents meetings but they always fell on deaf ears. With the President signing the Transport Bill to law, I hope authorities will be more vigilant in reining in on schools that expose minors to grave danger.

The writer is a married working mother of a toddler boy and a pre-school girl. She shares her experience of juggling between career, family and social life.