Parents outraged after school bus leaves girl, 4, at Lo Wu checkpoint

Parents with children at a Sheung Shui kindergarten are calling for measures to be taken by a school bus company after a four-year-old girl using its cross-border service was left behind at Lo Wu on Monday.

The school principal said it had no contract with the bus company but believed the increase in the number of students this year, boosted by the kindergarten education voucher system, could have played a part in the incident.

A four-year-old girl, surnamed Ma, who travelled from her home in Shenzhen to attend classes on Choi Yuen Estate, was found by immigration officers who heard her cries and saw her alone at the Lo Wu checkpoint arrivals hall.

The Sheung Shui Rhenish Church Kindergarten student was supposed to get off the bus, follow a woman supervisor, or 'bus mother', who had the girl's travel permits, then reboard the vehicle with other students after crossing the Lo Wu checkpoint.

Officials informed the girl's outraged parents of the incident. Her father said the bus service was unreliable. Last week, he had to take his daughter to the first day of school when the bus failed to arrive on time.

School principal Lilian Or Ngan-fung said the girl was accompanied by both parents when she travelled to and from the school yesterday.

'She seemed to be in good spirits and was willing to go into the classroom for her lessons,' Ms Or said.