Schools are back in session in some parts of the world. But it has also raised several questions such as how to transport students safely to and from school? With thousands of bus-riding students, schools are taking extra precautions to keep them safe during their commute.
In a bus, proximity to fellow students may raise the risk of infection.
That’s because Corona-virus may spread person-to-person through droplets produced if an infected person talks, sneezes, or coughs.
In order to prevent the spread of infection between school kids, there are some useful tips for kids, parents, and school transportation authorities. Read on to know.
1.Sanitize the Bus:
The first and foremost step school authorities should take is to ensure that all of their buses are thoroughly disinfected.
The sanitization shouldn’t be followed just once, but every day once all the students deboard the bus.
From the exterior body to internal seats, everything should be clean and free from any infection that may harm small children during their journey.
2.Have a Partition:
Use plastic panels to isolate drivers from the students commuting on the bus. It will prevent drivers and conductors from coming into contact with students. Besides, the drivers must keep a bottle of sanitizer handy and face covered with a shield.
3.Do a Daily Temperature Check:
Parents must check their children’s daily temperature before boarding the bus. Also, bus conductors must maintain daily records of students’ body temperature after boarding and deboarding.
Here, automated temperature logging plays a vital role; it helps in the early detection of fever symptoms in a child. If the symptoms occur in a student, it should be immediately informed to the school authorities and parents to take early precautions.
4.Wear a Face Mask:
Students should wear a face mask when traveling with other children, not from their immediate family. You never know the one sitting beside your child could carry the infection. Also, they should try to have the same seat on the bus every day.
5.Avoid Sharing Items:
It’s okay if the school bus is air-conditioned as there’s no proven data that it can contribute to causing infection.
But, it’s suggested that students, while on their way to school or home, should carry their own water bottles, snacks, or other important items like sanitizers and napkins. These are some items that shouldn’t be shared in this situation.
6. Avoid Close Contact:
Students must limit their close contact with other children inside the bus, and when possible, they should physically distant from each other when outside the bus.
As suggested earlier, clean and sanitize high-touch surfaces such as armrests, door handles, steering wheel, and seat belts. Besides, students must stop playing in the bus and remain seated all the time.
7.Educate Children:
It’s the responsibility of both parents and the school authorities to educate kids about the COVID-19 outbreak. Small children may not be able to understand how harmful this virus could be. So, it’s vital that taught everything in detail. Here are some essential points that every child must know:
Importance of keeping self and the surroundings clean
Importance of wearing a mask and washing hands
Using a tissue paper while sneezing and coughing
Maintain social distancing
Not to touch anything unnecessarily and use sanitizers
Avoid handshake with other students
If the students are properly instructed about the dos and don’ts, it can keep them safe to a greater extent.
8.Avoid Taking Unnecessary Halts:
As a part of responsibility and safety, drivers must avoid halting their bus needlessly. The bus should just pick up the children from the source and drop them off to the destination. Also, don’t let any student deboard the bus other than the desired stop, and they must avoid buying anything from outside while they are on the bus.
Conclusion,
The spread of Coronavirus has made a drastic change in our lives in the past few months. Resuming work and schools will become a new normal. However, with the digitization, children are at ease due to online classes.
Still, there is something special about schools that can teach the kids a million things other than the syllabus.
As kids are more vulnerable to this infection, it becomes crucial to keep them safe while they gradually resume going to schools. The above tips are common but critical to maintain safer travel for the little ones.
Not just for this year, but the safety guidelines should be followed for the coming few years because it’s a pandemic and a pandemic stays longer.
In addition, schools must adopt school bus tracker to enhance the quality of their safety measure.
