Concerns over school bus safety have been drawing increasing attention from schools and local authorities. Schools in remote and poverty-stricken areas are turning into private operating transport systems. CCTV reporter Ning Hong visited a school in Yi Xian County in Central China to see how the new mode works.

School is out. Students are lining up at the school yard waiting to go home. Zhang Haiyan's house is 20 kilometers away. Since last September, she and four other kids ride this minibus everyday. It is run by private contractors jointly hired by schools and parents.

Li Wenjiang, deputy director of Yi Xian Xiling Elementary School, said, "In the countryside, students are living in every direction. Having a few school buses wouldn't meet our needs. And time doesn't permit school buses to circle around and pick up students. So the most practical solution is to let students living in the same village take a specific school bus. And the cost is shared by their parents and the school. It satisfies everyone."

The bus drivers are all private contractors, some even doing it as a part time job. The local traffic department issues a special license to bus drivers, and makes routine checks to make sure the buses are in good condition.

Each bus has been assigned to carry certain students on fixed route everyday. Driver Yang Xuehui can only carry five students on each ride to school. She drives the route four times a day. Traffic police are also making routine checks to make sure drivers don't overload.

Yong Xuehui, school bus driver, said, "For a bus like this, carrying only five kids, I can barely afford it. This is as many as I am allowed to carry at a time. If I had one student less, I wouldn't be able to afford the gas."

Schools pay 300 yuan to drivers every month as subsidiary. The rest comes from the parents' pockets. The road to Zhang Haiyan' home is rough and sometimes even dangerous, with occasional falling rocks and narrow bridges. After spending an hour bumping on the road, Zhang Haiyan makes it home. Her mother is deaf and mute. Her father chops firewood to support the family.

Zhang Jun, Zhang Haiyan's father, said, "The bus fee has been raised again, to 150 yuan a month. Where can we get that amount of money? I have to borrow from others."

Despite the rising bus fee, Zhang Haiyan's family is glad to know that she'll return home safely each day. And they find more satisfaction seeing their child enjoy her time at school. But it's Zhang Haiyan that says she's seen the big yellow school buses on TV, and wonders when she'll ride one of her own.

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