Courtesy Sin Chew Daily
It seems like almost a rhetorical question, since I already know what many of you would likely say if you saw the bus in the photo and were asked: “Would you let your kids take this school bus?”
But this question is posed to every reader that comes across this article about a school bus in Sungai Petani, Kedah, Malaysia. This 30-year-old school bus has seen its fair share of school trips, so much so that it was scheduled to be taken off the road two years ago. But that hasn’t stopped the fearless driver from charging students $0.30 per ride, the only one many can find.
“Even though the bus is very rundown, the students do not seem to be frightened riding on it because it is driven at a very slow speed. To them the most important thing is to be able to get to their destinations,” reads the article.
Here in North America, we are fighting for appropriate funding to get our kids to school in the safest way possible, in the yellow school bus. But in other countries, many children are just trying to find any mode transport they can, even if it is as dangerous as this bus.
Courtesy Sin Chew Daily
Of course, back to budgets, everything is far from perfect on back on the American front. Funding is at an all-time low, student ridership is dwindling due to budget cuts in too many states to count and the feds have yet to fiscally recognize the need to keep school buses on the road in every state for every eligible student.
But, we are still light years ahead of some countries. Now if only the American yellow school bus were available to school children everywhere.
