Beijing to implement national school bus standard

Starting from September, Beijing will implement a uniform standard for school bus management, with all buses for the city's primary school students produced and administered to the same national standard.

Five departments in Beijing, including the Beijing Municipal Commission of Education, jointly released regulations on the management of school buses recently based on a regulation of school bus management that was released by the State Council in 2012.

The new regulation makes aspects such as drivers' qualifications clear. For example, it states a school bus driver must be between 25 and 60 years old with at least three years' driving experience and no record of severe traffic accidents or drunk driving.

It also states a school bus should be driven at a specific time on a specific route and parked in specific places.

The regulation also requires that school buses be equipped with safety facilities such as a global positioning system, video devices, seat belts, emergency hammers, dry powder extinguishers and first-aid kids, all specified by clauses in the 2012 regulation.