Punishment

Companies and bus drivers who fail to meet the regulations face stiff penalties.

Drivers who breach the regulations will be fined 200 yuan ($32) and vehicles will be withheld from its owner if they have been found using it as an unlicensed school bus.

Traffic and education authorities in Beijing declined to comment on the question of enforcement on Tuesday.

However, some school bus service providers said they were waiting for more concrete policies from local authorities to be in place before applying for operating licenses for buses and drivers.

"Right now we don't know which government body to turn to and what paperwork is needed," said Zhang Hua, a manager at Wanjiabang Car Rental, which runs school bus services in Beijing.

He said they do not know which department is in charge of school bus regulation, a problem they've faced for more than 10 years.

However, Zhang said the company will train drivers about their new responsibilities and potential penalties in case they fail to meet the requirements.

All these measures increase costs for the business, Zhang said. Keeping drivers motivated and fairly compensated, paying for employees and buses that work only twice a day, and rising fuel prices do not help here, he said.

Rural areas

The qualification for school bus providers and drivers is far more urgent in rural areas, especially in the mountainous areas, researcher Chu said.

"Also, the school bus safety regulation has not been made once and for all," Chu said. "It must be revised over time and through the practice of establishing the system."

Zhang Yutang, 63, a retired professor of education from Sichuan Normal University, agreed and hopes more government aid will be given to rural areas, as he believes few schools can afford school buses.

He has been working with educational authorities to train school principals and parents in rural areas of Sichuan province about campus safety for five years. He has also been giving lessons to headmasters in Ya'an city in Sichuan this year.

"They told me 80 percent of primary schools and kindergartens in Ya'an are private, with limited financial means to afford their own school buses," Zhang said.

Smaller private schools and kindergartens may hire a non-professional driver with a casual verbal agreement, with no thought of hiring monitors on the bus, Zhang said.

"The regulation says all drivers must be licensed to drive school buses. But schools, especially in the rural areas, must be able to afford skilled drivers in the first place," he said.