A draft regulation on school bus safety management was made public Sunday by the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council, with the public invited to submit comments on it.
The draft stipulates that local governments above the county level should take "overall responsibility" in school bus safety, and authorities of education, public security, transportation and product quality supervision should also properly perform their respective duties.
The government will establish and improve a system of mandatory technical standards for the quality of vehicles used as school buses, the draft stated.
China issued a set of technical standards for school buses for primary school students last year, and the drafting of another standard for buses for the kindergartners is also underway.
According to the draft, the government will adopt a license system for school bus operation.
Vehicles that are up to school bus standards and with a unified appearance will be first in line to obtain approval from education authorities, and the draft also requires buses to register at the traffic administrative agencies before they can be used as school buses.
Instead of compulsory annual safety checks, the draft would require school bus owners to renew their safety qualifications every six months.
Drivers should also check the safety condition of the buses before each commute, the draft said.
The draft asks schools and the school bus service providers to intensify safety management and maintenance and assign special staff on buses to look after students on board.
Further, the draft stipulates strict qualification standards for school bus drivers, including their ages, driving experience, non-violation records and health condition.
Since most of the students and preschoolers in urban regions go to schools located in the vicinity of their homes, the government will give more support in terms of financial aid and taxation benefits for expanding bus services in the country's rural areas, where the students have to travel much farther for school, the State Council Legislative Affairs Office said in a statement.
China has started nationwide school bus safety checks and pledged increased spending on school buses in wake of a fatal accident that stirred public concern over safety.
Twenty-one people, including 19 preschoolers and two adults, died, and 43 others were injured last month when a nine-seat school bus illegally carrying 64 people collided head-on with a coal truck in Gansu province.
The accident has revealed problems in the country's school bus management, including regulatory loopholes, unimplemented safety measures and a failure to carry out government responsibilities, according to a statement issued by the State Council's Work Safety Committee.
On Wednesday, another school bus ran red lights and collided with a truck, injuring 13 people, including 11 students on board, in Guangdong province.
Several days after the November accident, Premier Wen Jiabao called on relevant government departments to "rapidly" create safety regulations and standards for the country's school buses while further improving the design, production, and distribution of the vehicles.
The draft regulation is available at www.chinalaw.gov.cn, and feedback via online posts, letters and e-mails will be accepted until January 11, 2012.
"three-year transition period is too long"
The draft asks schools and school bus service providers to intensify safety management and maintenance and assign special staff members on buses to look after the students on board.
"The draft has followed educational experts' suggestions to stipulate strict quality standards for school bus drivers, including their ages, driving experience, safety records and health," Yuan Guilin, an education professor at Beijing Normal University who studies rural education and school bus safety, said on Sunday.
According to the draft, drivers should be less than 60 years old and have clean driving records for more than three years, he said.
Since most urban students attend schools near their homes, the government will give more financial support and larger tax breaks to expand rural services, the State Council Legislative Affairs Office said in a statement.
Many observers have said that schools do not have the money to use standard school buses. In response to such observations, the draft said that central and local governments would help pay for those costs and encourage donations as well.
"It is reasonable to (draw on donations) in light of the limited government budget for school bus services," said Yang Dongping, a professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology, who has studied educational development in China.
Some parents have said that allowing a three-year transition period for schools to follow the new rules is too long.
"It tolerates school buses unqualified under the new regulation over the coming three years, which might endanger my child's safety," a 28-year-old mother surnamed Cui said on Sunday.
The draft regulation is at www.chinalaw.gov.cn. Feedback via online posts, letters and e-mail will be accepted until Jan 11.
