Thursday 28 / November / 2024
Muscat: The female student who fell from a moving bus on February 27, 2023 is in good health and will return to school soon, said Ali bin Mohammad Al-Shukaili, Assistant Director General for Administrative and Financial Affairs at the Directorate General of Education at Al Dakhiliyah Governorate.
“We are still following up on the student's condition continuously. She was discharged from the hospital few hours after receiving treatment and examinations and is now on sick leave. She will return to school in the next couple of days,” he added.
During his interview on our Arabic radio station, Ali Al-Shukaili said that the Ministry of Education follows the procedures and the regulations governing the means of transportation issued by Ministerial Decision No. 58/2020.
“Now we are waiting for the Royal Oman Police report so that the circumstances of the incident and other details are clear. We affirm that what happened is one of the wrong practices that sometimes committed by bus drivers, despite the existence of legislation and laws to regulate such activity. The Ministry performs its role, from the issuance of the regulation, which contains requirements related to security and safety, the type of the bus, its equipment with some tools, and everything related to the security and safety of students. We have taken a very important step in implementing awareness programmes for bus drivers,” Al-Shukaili added.
Ali Al-Shukaili explained that Article 10 of the Regulations stipulates that the driver of the means of transport must abide by more than 20 specific points. “Whenever the bus driver violates these instructions, a penalty is issued against him that may reach the cancellation of the contract with immediate effect. The primary goal is the safety and security of students inside the school bus,” he added.
Al-Shukaili also explained that among the conditions of contracting with any bus is the presence of a safety system for the door, which closes the door automatically before the bus moves. If this system is disabled by the bus driver, it is in violation of laws and regulations.
“There are also other means of security and safety inside buses. The Ministry has implemented the Darb Al Salama (safe road) system, which contains multiple means of security and safety. This system is being implemented according to a specific time plan to include all governorates,” Ali Al-Shukaili said.
