For School Leaders · School Trips

School Trips in Kenya: A Transport Safety Checklist

Published: 30 October 2026

School trips are some of the most valuable days in a learner’s year: a science expo, a farm visit, a music festival, a sports fixture in another county. They are also the days when a school’s transport arrangements are most likely to be stretched. The bus may be hired rather than your own, the route is unfamiliar, the timetable is tight, and the driver may be someone your transport team has never worked with.

With Kenya’s local-curriculum schools on holiday until January and international-curriculum schools still in session, now is a good moment to review how your school plans trips, both for any outings left this term and for the 2027 calendar.

What a near-miss in Kampala shows

On 3 October 2026, a bus carrying Lubiri High School students to an educational expo in Kampala failed while descending Mengo Hill. Residents and the conductor managed to bring it to a stop, and police said no one was injured. Daily Monitor reported that police found the bus carrying 72 people against a licensed capacity of 67, with a PSV licence that had expired nearly a year earlier and severely worn tyres. Police also said the school lacked a clearance letter from the Ministry of Education and Sports for the trip and a vehicle inspection certificate.

Watchdog Uganda quoted traffic police spokesperson SP Michael Kananura urging schools to obtain all required licences, insurance, inspections and clearances “regardless of whether the journey is short or long.”

None of those failures was hidden. Each one could have been caught by a simple check before the bus left the gate.

Uganda has tightened its rules for school trips

That incident came after Uganda’s government tightened school transport rules following the fatal King David Junior School bus crash in Kapchorwa in July. According to Nile Post, via allAfrica, measures announced on 17 August 2026 require written Ministry of Education and Sports clearance for special trips, details of the bus, driver, school and destination from operators, inspected vehicles and accredited drivers. Children may not travel between 6:00pm and 6:00am, and learner-transport vehicles need comprehensive insurance, valid licences, a working seatbelt for every passenger, first-aid kits, serviced fire extinguishers and clear emergency exits.

Kenyan schools are not bound by Uganda’s rules, but the list is a useful benchmark for what a careful school should already be asking.

Kenya’s rules you already work with

In Kenya, school transport is limited to between 6am and 6pm. In August 2025, Basic Education PS Julius Bitok directed education officers to strictly enforce that limit, which Education News reported is set out in the Traffic (Amendment) Act of 2017, and warned that schools violating it would “face the full force of the law.”

As schools closed this month, NTSA also asked school transporters to test lights, inspect tyres and service brakes before carrying learners, while police said they would focus on speeding, overloading, unroadworthy vehicles and seatbelt use.

A school-trip transport checklist

Use this before approving any trip that involves road travel:

• Plan the timetable around 6am to 6pm. Work backwards from the return time, including traffic, meals and delays, so the bus is never racing the clock.
• Collect the vehicle’s documents before the day. Ask for the inspection certificate, PSV licence and insurance, and check the dates. An expired licence was one of the first things police found in Kampala.
• Confirm the seating capacity and stick to it. One learner per seat, with seatbelts fitted and working. Do not add “just a few more” on the day.
• Know who is driving. Get the driver’s name, licence and PSV badge details in advance, and confirm the same person turns up.
• Do a quick walk-round at the gate. Lights, tyres, brakes (as NTSA advises), emergency exits, a first-aid kit and a fire extinguisher.
• Keep a named passenger list. Count learners on and off at every stop, and share the list with the office before departure.
• Name a trip lead and a contact at school. Both should have the driver’s number, the route and the planned times.
• Tell parents what to expect. Send departure and expected return times, and update them if plans change.
• Write it down afterwards. Note the vehicle, driver, times and any issues so the next trip starts from a better plan.

Example: a school planning a January farm visit might set a 3:30pm departure time from the farm, collect the hired bus’s documents a week ahead, and send parents the pickup point and expected return time the day before. (This is an illustrative example, not a specific school.)

Where MyRide fits

Much of this checklist comes down to two things: knowing where the bus is, and knowing which children are on it. MyRide School Bus helps Nairobi schools with both on daily routes. Parents see the bus’s live location and get pickup and drop-off alerts in the MyRide Guardian app, and the school dashboard keeps trip and attendance records. MyRide is registered with Kenya’s Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC).

If you are reviewing your transport plans for 2027, book a 20-minute demo and we will walk you through how it works for schools like yours.

Sources

• Over 70 Lubiri High School students narrowly escape crash as unroadworthy bus fails on Mengo Hill — Daily Monitor, 3 Oct 2026
• Public intervention saves 73 Lubiri High School students after bus loses control — Watchdog Uganda, 3 Oct 2026
• Uganda: Govt Tightens Bus Rules, Orders New Driver and Route Checks — allAfrica (Nile Post), 19 Aug 2026
• PS Bitok: Schools flouting 6am-6pm transport law will face full force of law — Education News, 6 Aug 2025
• NTSA Issues 3 Directives to Drivers as Schools Close for 3rd Term — Tuko.co.ke, 19 Oct 2026