Large numbers of government school students are facing the problem of non-availability of proper transport service in Peshawar. Not only is the problem aggravating with time but is also causing disturbance in the peace and safety of the city’s environment.
Thousands of students, mostly from the suburbs of Peshawar, lack educational facilities in their localities and hence they have to travel to Peshawar for schooling. Most of these students travel by public transport, especially buses and pickups. Due to limited space in buses and pickups, many students have to mount the roof of the vehicle which carries them, risking their safety to accidents. A number of cases have been reported in which students fell off the vehicles, getting injuries and, some of them, even losing their lives. In a recent incident, a 9th class student named Kamran was killed by being run over by a bus.
Many school students, traveling in buses, also frequently engage in scuffles with the conductors of the vehicle, usually in a dispute over the issue of paying half fare than that collected from other passengers. Many a time, students flare up on being asked for paying the fare and they damage the vehicle, breaking its windscreen and window panes. Traffic police usually does not take any effective measures to resolve these issues.
There is a great need for government transportation for school students who have to travel to Peshawar for education. Formerly, the government maintained the GTS service for carrying school students to and from their schools. Now that service has been discontinued by the government and no alternative provided. Due to poverty, these students cannot afford to travel in taxis or rikshaws. Traveling by public transport is a compulsion and it remains a major daily-life problem for students as well as drivers and conductors of vehicles.
