Minister of Education Prince Faisal bin Abdullah thanked Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and Crown Prince Salman for supporting education as he launched an international conference on school transport that will take place in October.
The event, scheduled for Oct. 7-9, will be held under the aegis of King Abdullah.
The minister said a decision has been approved for the establishment of an educational development company to support the educational process, including school transport services.
The organization of an international conference for school transportation is the first of its kind in the Kingdom and aims to exchange ideas for the development of school transport based on a series of trials conducted by the Ministry of Education, the minister said.
He said the ministry has continuously tried to expand the capacity for school transport and increased the number of beneficiaries to 600,000 students, a quarter of total students in general education, and saved some SR 1.2 billion in fuel costs.
In support of this drive, the Council of Ministers approved the number of female students benefiting from school transport services to 1.2 million, he said.
The minister said the conference would explore the strategic planning of school transportation, means of operation, how to lessen dependence on private vehicles to bring students to schools, transportation of teachers and issues related to safety and security among others.
Conference on school transport planned
