JEDDAH: Fifty-seven percent of female students and 77 percent of males are not using school transport despite the fact that the provision of buses began four years ago.

According to an online newspaper, the Education Ministry wanted to provide school buses for all students but four years after the scheme began, it is far from achieving its aim. The rate for boys has increased from 10 percent to 23 percent and that of girls from 23.9 percent to 43 percent.

The newspaper said that the scheme also included female teachers in the proposed school transport system estimated to cost a total of SR1.3 billion. The plan has unfortunately not been implemented and still requires additional study. Sources in the ministry have said that the school transport system was aimed at improving the work environment to meet both quantitative and qualitative demands. It was intended to develop a comprehensive system of high quality school transport.

Ministry sources said that since the council of ministers had decided to include female teachers in the school transport service, the Ministry of Education has coordinated with the Finance Ministry for the implementation of the program. The financial and legal procedures have begun and joint meetings of concerned ministries, the Education Development Holding Company and the Educational Transport Services Development Company have been held and agreements to develop plans and implement the system are in various stages.

After consultation with the two ministries, the Education Development Holding Company has prepared a study with an international company designed to improve the school transport system. It was supposed to present a tender for the expansion of the transport system this year which would include the 1.7 million students in the Kingdom. The company submitted its tender to provide the school transport system to 802,000 students, both males and females, in the moth of Jumada Al-Awwal 1435.