NCPA to regularize school van service in WP

Chamikara WEERASINGHE

The National Child Protection Authority(NCPA) Chairman Anoma Dissanayaka yesterday said ensuring safety of schoolchildren who use private school vans to attend school is now a top priority of the Government and the Authority is set to regularize the system in the Western Province with the help of the police.

Meanwhile, Police Administration Senior DIG N K Ilangakoon has sent a circular to police stations isllandwide to give priority to cases of child abuse in support of the Authority.

NCPA Chairman Dissanayaka said more than 100 child abuse cases have been reported to the Authority during the year. "The child abuse levels have increased in school vans from recent times.

"Underage pupils have become victims of abuse in vans by van drivers," she said.

Dissanayaka said steps will be taken to maintain records about school van services and their operations.

Asked how it would prevent children from being abused in school vans, she said they will also keep an eye on the records of the drivers. The Authority will issue a form to be filled by the school service vans drivers from tomorrow through school service vehicle societies and school protection societies, she said. The All Ceylon School Service Vehicles Society and Civil and School Protection Societies have agreed to support the Authority's efforts, she said.

They are required to fill forms with the names and other information of the drivers to be submitted together with a Grama Niladhari Certificate. Drivers' fingerprints are also to be provided along with a police report, she explained.

The forms will be issued to vehicle numbers through these organizations beginning tomorrow.

"The measures were taken because it deemed necessary, " she said. NCPA conducted many awareness programs for school van drivers on the importance of protecting children but the programs were unsuccessful because there were hardly any drivers who were interested in them," she said.

Commenting on the new system the NCPA plans to ensure child protection in school transport system, she said the van owners will not be able to send drivers haphazardly to fetch children from schools under the new ystem. They will have to send the driver that has been named by them to the task under the system, she said.

Hence, it is not only the children who will be protected, the drivers jobs will also be protected, she added. Moreover, they will not be able to overload school vans with additional children, she said.