ISKANDAR PUTERI: The death of a five-year-old boy who was left behind in a school van in late April has prompted the Johor government to set guidelines and standard operating procedures (SOP) to prevent a repeat of the tragedy.
Johor education and information committee chairman Aznan Tamin (BN-Tanjung Surat) said the guidelines were produced through a collaboration between the state Education Department and the Land Public Transport Agency.
“The SOP covers areas such as school bus and van driver management; vehicle licence, inspection and maintenance; monitoring of children’s safety; monitoring children’s attendance; and what to do in case of emergencies.
“This includes requiring school vans ferrying more than 10 children to have an assistant, who will be responsible for making sure that the kids are safely in and out of the vehicle.
“Other SOPs include requiring licensed school bus and van drivers to undergo special training about child safety, road safety and emergency aid procedures, and undergo mental and physical assessment,” he said at the state assembly sitting in Kota Iskandar here on Thursday (May 22).
He was answering a question posed by Wong Bor Yang (PH-Senai) on whether the state government has set any SOP to prevent tragedies like the death of the five-year-old boy from happening again.
Aznan added that the SOP has been implemented, and enforcement would follow soon.
On April 30, the boy was reportedly found unconscious in a school van outside a kindergarten in Taman Bukit Indah.
He was believed to have been left behind after the 56-year-old van driver dropped off other students at around 7.30am that morning.
The child was found at around noon and later pronounced dead at the hospital.
The van driver was subsequently charged at the Sessions Court on May 7 with neglect that allegedly led to the death of the boy.
