JEDDAH, 15 September — As nearly five million students flocked back to school yesterday at the start of the new academic year, Jeddah traffic police set out a special plan to control the heavy traffic at morning and afternoon hours, according to Lt. Col. Mohammed Al-Qahtani, acting director of the department.
“We’ll deploy a large number of officers with 320 motor cycles and 85 cars to supervise the school traffic from early morning hours,” Qahtani said in a press statement.
He said the school traffic on the first day of the new academic year was comparatively normal as only one accident was reported.
“A traffic vehicle equipped with a radar system has been roaming the city yesterday to track traffic violators, especially on Madinah Road and King’s Road,” he pointed out.
“We have made fundamental changes in the traffic plan compared to last year,” he said.
The traffic of girl students at the College of Home Science in Rehab will be from west to east at both morning and afternoon hours. At Al-Thagher Schools in Al-Thagher District, the arrival of students will be from east to west at morning hours while departure will be from west to east in the afternoon.
For the College of Girls in Al-Salama District, traffic will be from north to south at both morning and afternoon hours. At the Girls College in Baghdadiya, traffic will be from north to south at both times.
The Madinah road has been divided into four areas to supervise the traffic.
“There is no change in the traffic to King Abdul Aziz University and the remaining schools. A number of officers have been appointed to control the traffic near the university,” Qahtani said.
Meanwhile, Qasim ibn Ali Al-Shamakhi, director general of girls education in the Asir region, highlighted the tremendous progress achieved by girls’ education in the region.
There are 704 primary schools, 260 intermediate schools and 149 secondary schools for girls in the region with a total of 150,000 students. In addition, there are 10 girls colleges and 170 adult education centers for women, he added.
The Education Ministry has issued a circular that prevents forcing girl students to purchase or exchange books as the government would provide them with necessary textbooks. The ministry has already printed 100 million copies of textbooks to distribute among both boys and girls. The ministry has noticed that some schools are forcing girl students to purchase books on their own.
