School bus safety has come under scrutiny after the Audit Office revealed concerning findings regarding the condition and oversight of school buses in Cyprus.
According to a special report, serious shortcomings were identified in compliance with Ministry of Transport guidelines, while questions were also raised over the reliability of technical inspections carried out by private testing centres.
More than half missed mandatory checks
The report found that more than half of the school bus fleet, specifically 53%, failed to attend a mandatory extraordinary technical inspection set by the Ministry of Transport for the 2025–2026 school year.
The Audit Office expressed serious concern that a large number of vehicles continued transporting students without undergoing the required inspection at Public Technical Inspection Centres.
Further compliance issues also emerged, with 14% of buses that attended inspections lacking a valid and recent technical certificate issued by a Private Vehicle Technical Inspection Centre.
High failure rate raises concerns
The report described the failure rate among school buses during inspections as particularly alarming.
According to the findings, 35% of inspected vehicles were deemed unsuitable during the first technical check, indicating significant weaknesses in vehicle maintenance and monitoring procedures.
The Audit Office also questioned the effectiveness of inspections carried out by private centres.
Data showed that nearly two out of every ten buses rejected by Public Technical Inspection Centres had previously obtained suitability certificates from private inspection centres, in some cases only days before undergoing reinspection.
Buses deemed unsuitable remained in operation
The report also highlighted a more serious issue involving five school buses that had already been classified as unsuitable by the Road Transport Department.
Despite this classification, the vehicles reportedly continued transporting students without holding valid suitability certificates.
The Audit Office stated that this practice constitutes a violation of legislation and poses potential risks to student safety.
In its conclusions, the Audit Office stressed that the findings point to broader systemic failures rather than isolated incidents.
It recommended stricter penalties for contractors and private technical inspection centres that fail to meet their obligations, more frequent inspections and the immediate removal from circulation of buses deemed unsuitable.
Also read: Paphos: Heavy penalties to three companies over fatal workplace accidents
For more videos and updates, check out our YouTube channel
