Education and public security authorities across China have inspected more than 70,000 school buses -- following a series of accidents -- and found that more than 9,000 were unsafe.

 

One of the worst accidents occurred on November 21, 2006 in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, when a school bus plunged off a bridge into a frozen river, leaving eight children dead and 39 injured.

 

The national inspection showed that primary and middle schools in rural areas often used discarded vehicles, lorries or even tractors as shuttle buses for students.

 

In cities, financial strains led some schools for migrant workers' children to use unsafe and clapped-out vehicles as shuttle buses and employ unlicensed drivers to drive them.

 

Speeding and overloading were common.

 

To improve school bus security, a number of provinces -- including Fujian, Shaanxi, Gansu, Hebei, Sichuan and Anhui -- have established a data system to register school buses and set stringent standards for school buses and drivers. In the cities of Suzhou and Zhangjiagang in Jiangsu Province, some school buses have been equipped with global positioning system (GPS) equipment, making it easier for authorities to supervise their operation. An official from the Ministry of Education said on Friday that his Ministry will cooperate with the Ministry of Public Security to improve the school bus management system in 2007.

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 6, 2007)