Officials of the National Road Safety Authority has started the inspection of school buses in the Ashanti Region to ensure they are road worthy enough to transport children.

The annual exercise is to minimize the risk of children being involved in accidents.

In November 2022, 14 school children were injured as their school bus somersaulted into a ditch close to the Subin River on the Asokwa-Ahodwo road in Kumasi.

Regional Director of the National Road Safety Authority, Simbiat Wiredu, observed that some of the vehicles are in bad condition.

Many are without seat belts, have worn-out tires, and are rickety with sub-standard seats.

“Last year, we recorded two devasting accidents involving school children. It was due to negligence, lack of maintenance of the bus. It is worrying though we did not have a high number of crashes.

“Most of the vehicles are in good shape. But we saw issues that needed to be addressed. Most of the school buses do not have windows, tires, lighting and seat belts. The school authorities are not in the know. They leave it to the head of transport or drivers to deal with it. Though the buses have roadworthy stickers, they still need servicing,” she revealed.

All schools are mandated to submit data of their vehicles to the National Schools Inspectorate Authority.

But some schools fail to comply with the directive.

After serving notices to recalcitrant schools, the National Schools Inspectorate Authority says it will begin sanctioning and withholding their license to operate.

Augustine Aboagye is Lead Inspector, National Schools Inspectorate Authority.

“Most of the school buses are not in good condition. When we visit schools, we advise them on the right thing to do. We do this so we would not encounter accidents.

“The schools who fail to comply will not have their license renewed. We normally advise them when we find anything not in conformity with our regulations. Later, when we visit, and find that you are not adhering to our recommendation, the school will be sanctioned,” he cautioned.