RIYADH: About 4,200 new, air-conditioned 40-seat buses chauffeured by Saudis will be deployed as part of a project by the Ministry of Education to provide transport to and from school for 367,000 school girls in four regions of the Kingdom.
Prince Khaled Abdullah Al-Meshari, deputy minister for girls education, signed an agreement with Yousef Naghi, president of Hafil Transport Company in Riyadh, which will implement this new system — the first of its kind — in the provinces of Riyadh, Makkah, Qassim and the Eastern Province.
“School transport provides safety and security for girls who are under 15 years old,” said the prince. “The service will be expanded to other regions during the course of three years and it will be extended to teachers well.”
The contract with Hafil is valued at SR1.8 billion for the current phase of the project. The government has budgeted SR3 billion for the entire initiative, including the expansion to other provinces and providing transportation for teachers as well.
Al-Meshari said the ministry was expanding on a pilot project that was put in place in February in Madinah province. That project shuttles 19,000 schoolgirls in 303 schools in the province.
The project, which is called “Al-Ameen” (Trustworthy), is aimed at lessening the time that parents spend shuttling their girls to school in a safe and culturally appropriate manner. The exclusion of foreign bus drivers is aimed at making the program an opportunity for employment of qualified Saudi men.
Under the current system, the consignment of bus services is up to the local school and the parents who make their own arrangements to hire shuttling services.
Othman Abdul Jabbar, deputy minister of education for school affairs, said that the project is part of a decision made by the Council of Ministers to increase private participation in government services.
“We have insisted that the school buses should be driven by Saudi drivers in an effort to provide employment opportunities for the locals,” said Jabbar. The drivers will be expected to adhere to safety standards, such as prohibiting students from standing up while the vehicles are moving.
