The school bus service is one of the few aspects of running a school that most School Owners wish they could easily do without. In actual fact, I am sure we may have each met at least one School Owner who refuses to run a school bus service.

Ask parents, and you will also get a whole list of reasons why they are not impressed with their schools bus service sometimes it is the only black mark against the school. To be honest with you I agree with them. I run a school and it is one of our greatest headaches.

Is it issues with the driver, the school bus itself, breakdowns and repairs, the unpredictable price and dent in the supply of petrol, the traffic, LASMA, waiting for children who will not get into the bus in time? And the list goes on.

All in all, the school bus issue has not been a wonderful one.

But I do agree that sometimes the school bus may be an issue that we have to embrace and find solutions to along the way.

So today I want to just look at one of the problems the School Owner faces with the School Bus Service and would like to ask for input and suggestions from our teachers and parents.

It is none other than our bad roads!

I know that it is not our parents fault that the roads to their homes are bad and  unmotorable, but please something has to be done about this. We cannot be expected to pay millions of Naira to buy vehicles that are going to be battered and worn out by the roads to our pupils homes. When the buses breakdown and we can’t get the children to school in time, both the children and the school suffers, and the parents get really angry!

So what do you think we can do about this? I have some suggestions. I will talk about just one.

I think parents need to count the cost.

If they want the service then maybe arranging for the children to meet the bus at an acceptable stop where their road is good may help!

We should also think about building a few designated school bus stops in our communities. Schools in each Local Government area can come together and come up with a plan, approach the Local Government for approval and run several fundraisers to fund the building of the bus stop structures.

At least we will be able to keep the buses running in a good condition for much longer if we can make this work.

It’s just a thought… what do you think?

What other issues do you feel we need to look at with the School Bus Service?