Ministry says student misbehaviour and damage to buses pose “serious danger”, as it steps up vehicle safety checks for new school year. Cyprus’s Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works has warned that some school bus routes could face temporary suspension after a spate of vandalism and disruptive behaviour by students in recent days, as it stepped up safety checks on the vehicles used to transport pupils for the new school year.. The ministry said it had carried out extensive inspections of school buses before and after the start of term, going significantly beyond what is required under national legislation and its contracts with transport providers, in order to ensure routes are served only by vehicles that fully meet safety requirements.
It said it was applying the same rigour in enforcing legislation and contractual provisions where providers or drivers themselves were found to be in breach.. But the ministry stressed that safety depended not only on the technical condition of vehicles but also on conditions inside them during journeys, an area where it said it would show equally little tolerance for problems. It cited recent isolated incidents of vandalism and damage to school buses, along with loud disturbances and inappropriate behaviour by students, noting that similar incidents had also occurred in previous school years..
Such conduct, the ministry warned, created a serious safety risk and could distract drivers from focusing on the road. It listed a series of specific dangers, including throwing objects, verbal or physical harassment of drivers, students moving around while the vehicle was in motion, smoking, and damage to seats or safety equipment, all of which it said endangered everyone on board and, above all, fellow students.. Material damage also had direct practical consequences for the service, the ministry said, since damaged buses sometimes had to be taken temporarily out of service for inspection and repair, and immediate replacement was not always possible given the limited number of buses and drivers available.
Where the safe operation of a route could not be guaranteed, the ministry said, temporary suspension was unavoidable until safety could be restored.. The ministry appealed to parents, guardians and parent associations to help ensure students behaved appropriately while being transported, urging them to remind children to remain seated throughout the journey, to respect the vehicle, the driver and fellow passengers, and to report any incident that endangered their safety to the driver or school authorities.. It stressed that the measures were not directed at the “overwhelming majority” of well-behaved students, but were intended to protect them from behaviour that put their safety at risk.
The ministry said it would work with the Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth, school administrations, parents and parent associations to identify those responsible and restore affected routes as quickly as possible, and expressed regret for the disruption caused to students and families by any route suspensions.