Almost all the federal educational institutions lack proper transport facilities to fulfil the needs of their students. Only 30 out of 422 institutions of Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) have less than 100 buses.
A large number of students sitting on rooftops or stuffed inside private buses is a common sight both in the morning and after school hours. Some of them travel while hanging along doors put their lives at risk.
Shazia, a student at Islamabad Model Postgraduate College F-7/2, said she could not remember a day since taking admission that when she travelled to or from the college sitting on seat as the bus was always overcrowded.
"Sometimes as many as 80 students are crowded in the bus having capacity of 50 seats," she added. A significant number of the college buses are old, worn out and defective with faulty brakes, bald tyres, dysfunctional rear brake lights and warning lights putting the lives of students at stake.
Imran, a student of H-8 College said, "My college bus has broken seats and damaged roof which leaks when it rains. Travelling during rain becomes a nightmare. I have to spend first hour in college recuperating from the bus ride and another hour at home after return journey."
A bus driver of H-8 College said, "There are four buses in this college, two of them are very old (1972 model).
There are no spare parts in the store and even the ones procured are not of good quality."
Professor Mehmood Ali Khokher of H-8 College said the college despite being postgraduate, had only four old buses.
He said new buses should be provided to the college and all other federal educational institutions.
He said," A proper transport system impacts a student's ability to perform at school or college."
The issue of overcrowding must be addressed properly because lack of proper ventilation in buses increased the chances of being suffocated, he said.