School buses on election duty, schools inconvenienced

After teachers and school staff, school buses are now going to be busy in election duty and will not be able to cater to students on April 23 and 24.

The School Bus Owners Association (SBOA), on request from the RTO, will be providing 10,000 of its buses across the state for various election-related purposes for those two days. "We are dedicating the buses for election duty as per orders from the government. Luckily, most of the schools are closed for summer holidays. However, a few schools will be affected," said Anil Garg, president, SBOA Mumbai.

While most of the state board schools are closed for summer vacation, CBSE, ICSE and IB board schools are functioning.

Some schools in the city have decided to remain shut to avoid any inconvenience. "We have to keep the school shut for two days to ensure there is no problem for parents," said Avnita Bir, principal, RN Podar School, Santa Cruz.

The unaided forum for education has also sent a circular to its schools informing them about the buses' unavailability. "We have informed our schools that buses will be used for election duty and, hence, may not be available for them. The schools can take a decision accordingly," said SC Kedia of the forum, which has over 200 members.