Despite repeated directives from the State Transport Authority (STA) and the Education department, many schools in Kozhikode district have failed to complete the installation of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras and Global Positioning System (GPS) devices in their school buses. The delay has raised serious safety concerns, especially as some schools have reportedly increased bus fees, citing the cost of installing surveillance systems.
Authorities had instructed school managements to complete the installation of CCTV cameras within the first academic term. However, even after the conclusion of the second term, several government, aided, unaided, and private schools are yet to implement the safety guidelines. The negligence continues despite the Motor Vehicles department (MVD) having earlier granted fitness clearance to educational institution vehicles based on undertakings that schools would independently install cameras and present the vehicles again for inspection. According to MVD sources, none of these schools has complied with this commitment so far.
MVD officials have now made it clear that from the next academic year, fitness certificates will be issued only to vehicles fitted with mandatory surveillance cameras. In Kozhikode city alone, nearly 200 school buses were produced for fitness inspections ahead of the reopening of schools in June 2025. Around 20 buses were denied fitness certificates as they were not equipped with GPS devices, which are part of the revised safety guidelines.
The issue assumes significance as the State government had already decided to make surveillance cameras mandatory in all school buses from April 1, 2025. The decision had also been approved at an STA meeting. As per the rule, every bus should be fitted with at least three cameras — one front-facing (road view), one inside the passenger compartment, and one rear-facing.
“There were instructions in line with an earlier High Court order from the Transport Commissioner, stating that the move was aimed at enhancing passenger safety. Some tragic accidents and law-and-order incidents inside buses were among the key reasons for making camera systems mandatory,” said a functionary of the Parents Teachers Association of an unaided school in Kozhikode city. He also pointed out that there had been no follow-up measures by the MVD or the police to enforce the directive.
The GPS-enabled tracking of around 700 school buses, proposed nearly 10 years ago, also remains pending in Kozhikode district, despite the launch of an exclusive Android application named Vidhya Vahan by the MVD. Many schools are yet to complete the entry of students’ details and other particulars of educational institution vehicles required to avail the service.
Meanwhile, managers of a few city schools said technical issues related to the establishment of a dedicated server were derailing the project in Kozhikode city. They said even government schools, despite having their own funds, were facing such technical hurdles in complying with the guidelines.
Published – December 23, 2025 09:22 pm IST
