File electronic reports against erring school drivers, ministry tells parents

JEDDAH: The Ministry of Education, through the Tatweer for Educational Transport Services that supervises school transport, is allowing the parents of school children to use electronic means to inform them about violations committed by school drivers. Parents can now send pictures as proof of such violations.
The new electronic application allows faster communication between parents and schools. They can now inform authorities about the drivers involved in violations, especially those concerning safety, security, negligence and traffic accidents.
The application also allows filing of complaints about the vehicles that delay bringing the students home for reasons like the vehicles not reporting in time and non-cooperation of drivers, as also about inefficient services inside the vehicle. Vehicle breakdowns while plying on the road can also be reported through smart phones.
All this is being done with the purpose of monitoring the performance of vehicles and the contractors who run them in the interest of children’s safety and service quality.
The move comes at a time when the ministry has added 1,000 new vehicles to its fleet. They include the last lot of 250 vehicles that has left customs and is on its way to replace the rented ones. With the addition, the ministry’s fleet has become 3,000 strong.
The ministry stated that it has already provided vehicle contractors with technical specifications relating to safety and security in line with Saudi standards like yellow color, school transport slogan, warning marks, and stops, and display of phone numbers.
In another development, the Public Educational Directorate in Riyadh is organizing in March a forum for discussing modern school strategies and innovations seeking participation of all schools and their staff members.
Forum Secretary General Abdulaziz Al-Mutlaq said modern teaching strategies will bring about qualitative changes in education.
Aside from an exhibition, the event this year will be marked by workshops and a scientific seminar in which academics and university professors will take part. “The event provides a big opportunity for them to discuss various strategies and innovations,” he added.