To all parents wanting to make sure their children are in school.
A new project has begun which will allow parents to check that their children are on their school bus, using a satellite tracking. This new scheme (STAR) is being tested in North Wales and requires children to swipe a card when they get on and off of the bus, helping parents check up on attendance.
The scheme is due to run for a year to see if it is successful and if it is it will be rolled out to the rest of Wales in 2010. This scheme is part of a project Zoon, which has been set up to try to improve bad behaviour on school buses. The scheme is also aimed to help the drivers of the buses. The drivers will have access to a small screen which will be able to take pictures of misbehaving children; this can be sent to the relevant school and/or local authorities.
STAR is also training 14 year olds to become bus monitors, whether or not they are enthusiastic about has yet to be seen. Training for bus drivers on how to manage pupils is also being arranged.
A representative of Zoon has said that they believe that this spying on children it is merely to ensure that children get to school safely and on time, and of course this is all covered by the data protection act. Not sure whether the school children being tracked like this will agree though!
Just another way in which a vehicle like tracking system is used.
