Before you hand over your child: a school van safety checklist
Nine questions to ask any pick & drop provider, and what a good answer sounds like.
Most parents pick a van on two criteria: price and whether it passes near the house. Both matter. Neither tells you whether the ride is safe.
Ask to see the driver's CNIC and licence, and note the vehicle registration. Ask who else is in the vehicle every morning — a fixed attendant is a meaningful signal. Ask what happens when the driver is sick; a provider with a backup plan has thought about it.
Ask about the route and the number of children. A 14-seater Hiace with sixteen children on a 70-minute loop is a different product from a Corolla carrying four children for twenty minutes, and the pricing will tell you which one you are looking at.
Finally, ask for two parents you can call. Providers who have been doing this for years have references and are happy to share them. On SchoolNama, verified providers have had their CNIC and vehicle documents checked; the badge tells you that step is done, but the conversation is still yours to have.