Yangon’s education department plans to introduce rules forcing all children to ride to school in buses rather than private cars within the next three months, according to a report in state-backed media.
The plans are part of an initiative to reduce chronic congestion in the city, according to the Global New Light of Myanmar.
“The department is inviting the private companies to submit tender for school ferry buses,” an unnamed official told the newspaper. There are only a few school buses actually in operation currently.
Incredibly, the report says the department plans to install CCTV cameras outside schools to check that no students disobey the new order.
“Action will be taken if they come to school and go back home in their own car,” said the official. “Currently, almost 50 per cent of the students do not ride in the ferry buses.”
Given that there are close to one million children enrolled in schools in Yangon, that’s some 500,000 kids going back and forth in private cars. And 500,000 sets of parents who aren’t going to be too happy about this news…
