Supervisors on every schoolbus demanded

DUBAI — Parents yesterday insisted that schools should have supervisors on buses to ensure that the younger children reached their homes safely.

By A Staff Reporter

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Published: Thu 6 Mar 2008, 8:42 AM

Last updated: Sun 5 Apr 2015, 6:37 PM

Shocked by the death of five-year-old Yasmin Ramadan, a first grade student of a school in Garhoud who was run over by the schoolbus near her house in Cargo Village on Tuesday, many demanded that every bus should have a supervisor or a conductor to help children get into and down the bus and reach home safely.

While the Ministry of Education guidelines require a supervisor to be on board the schoolbus, sources concede that many schools fail to adhere to it. In fact, even Yasmin's school did not have a supervisor on board the bus.

"Every bus should have a conductor to take care of the child and the onus is on the school to look after the child. Until a child reaches home, schools have to be careful. However, parents also have an equal responsibility to pick up the child from the bus stop," says Kumudu S., a parent of a six-year-old.

Julia V., another parent of a four-year-old child, said, "It is a pity this happened when it could have been avoided. Even after so many incidents, schools fail to prioritise and put the safety of children first."

Yasmin's principal, Mohammed Robin Idres, insisted that the school did put the safety of the children first. "Our teachers escort the children and ensure they are safely seated. We do not have a supervisor or conductor on the bus. However, we have an agreement with the parents that they should pick up the children from the bus stop." He added that the school, which has 120 buses and 10,000 students, was now seriously contemplating about appointing supervisors.

Abha Sahgal, principal of Delhi Private School in Sharjah, said, "It is very important for a conductor to accompany the children. We make it compulsory for our teachers to be with the children if a conductor is not present."

Meanwhile, Fatma Al Marri, CEO of Schools Agency, Dubai's Knowledge and Human Development Authority, said they were working on the measures to be taken for the safety of students.


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