The issue of forgetting children in school buses and clubs has caused a lot of controversy in the community and social networking sites recently, especially after it was repeated. The most recent was the death of a 6-year-old boy as a result of his forgetfulness on a bus in a Koranic center.

Many questioned the extent to which safety measures were implemented in school buses, Quran memorization centers and sports clubs, which are concerned with the transport of students and children, because the incidents showed no supervisors on buses.

A survey conducted by Emirates Today on Twitter about the main responsible for the incidents of forgetting children in school buses and Koranic centers revealed that 53% of the respondents are responsible for the lack of supervisors on the buses, while 29% think that the reason is negligence Drivers, 10% were accused of defaulting, while 80% blamed the transport authority.

He called on parents and experts responsible for child transport buses to identify the different tasks and responsibilities of all parties involved in the mass transport of children, which ensure the safety and safety of children during their journey to and from sports, cultural and social centers, as well as schools. Compliance with safety and security standards.

In this context, Emirates Today observed 12 incidents of children forgetting in school buses, Quran memorization centers and their families' vehicles, which took place during the last six years (2013-2019), which resulted in the death of six children as a result of suffocation and high temperatures. The police reports of these incidents, most of which occurred during the summer, show that the victims are under six years of age, including infants as young as two years old, who are unable to leave themselves within the means of transportation.

According to the reports, the details of the incident inside the buses start after arriving at the school or the educational center. The driver and the accompanying supervisor, if any, forget the child in a deep sleep inside the bus without making sure that it is completely empty. Which expose the child who is forgotten inside to suffocation, and then death.

In other incidents, their children's parents forgot about their vehicles, whether shopping or inadvertently. Some of them forgot the location of the vehicle, causing deaths among children due to suffocation and high temperatures.

The Ministry of the Interior, represented by the Child Protection Center, stressed the importance of applying certain requirements and controls for public safety during the transportation of students and children in vehicles and buses, the most important of which are the appointment of bus supervisors and ensuring that the bus is free of children upon reaching the destination. To children's escorts, in the event of a breach of these requirements, which may result in accidents that harm children.

The Ministry attributed the occurrence of incidents of suffocation of children within some buses, to neglect the supervisors and supervisors, and therefore must review the application of laws enacted by the concerned authorities in the State, and the application of penalties provided by law to the defaulters, noting that children do not realize the risks that surround them during Trip, it is important to take all the precautions that keep their lives.

Emirates Al-Youm has also seen the transfer of sports clubs in Umm Al Quwain and Ras Al Khaimah, whose members are young players, some of whom are as young as eight years old, with buses in the absence of male or female supervisors.

The club's executive director, Abdullah Qanzul, attributed the lack of availability of club supervisors to the lack of financial capabilities and the inability to pay the salaries of bus supervisors, stressing the club's management's belief in the importance of supervisors for buses to accompany young players and supervise the process of receiving and handing over to their families, Pointing out that the club costs the drivers to perform the tasks of supervisors in buses.

"Running buses without supervisors could pose a threat to the safety of the players during their transfer," he said, adding that the club handles all complaints from parents to bus drivers.

He pointed to the possibility of repeated forgetting children in buses, whether belonging to clubs or centers of memorization of the Koran or schools, but the management of the club is keen to check the buses and ensure the arrival of all children, adding that the management of the club provided some safety conditions in the buses by closing the windows ban To prevent the children from leaving the area while they were walking, and to prevent them from dumping the waste on the public road through the windows. The club received complaints from drivers about throwing children of some objects from the windows and damaging others on the public road.

He called on the General Authority for Sports to financially support the clubs to provide supervisors on buses to ensure the protection of members of the club from children, and to enhance the safety and prevention procedures in buses, noting that the club has seven buses and transport 25 players in each bus.

"The club uses bus drivers to monitor young players as they move from their homes to the club because there are no bus supervisors," said Mahmoud Hassan Al Shamsi, chairman of the Emirates Club in Ras Al Khaimah, adding that the club's drivers are qualified to supervise the transfer of players since boarding buses. And their access to the club.

He added that "the club has 18 buses that apply safety and safety standards during the transfer of players, especially young people, as well as continuous follow-up from the club administrators."

The director of the Department of Administrative and Financial Affairs at the Ras Al-Khaimah Foundation for the Holy Quran, Abdulrahman Ali Mujadad, said that "the Foundation has 32 buses transporting students of Quran memorization centers in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, including 24 buses belonging to Emirates Transport Corporation. All the company implements all safety standards, including the provision of surveillance cameras and supervisors.

He added that the Foundation requested Emirates Transport to provide during the summer period a number of supervisors for their recruitment in the fleet of buses carrying students from their homes to the centers of memorization of the Holy Quran at the level of the Emirate, in order to enhance safety standards in buses.

Majdad pointed out that the institution supervises 18 Quran memorization centers in all areas of Ras Al Khaimah, where more than 2,400 students are studying, adding that during the coming period the institution will undergo training courses on safety and security to ensure the protection and safety of students.

He stressed that the Foundation did not record any incidents of students in buses, as it takes care of the great supervision and safety of students during their transportation on buses, and their presence in the centers of memorization of the Koran.

The Deputy Director of the Emirates Child Protection Society, Moza Al Shoumi, responsible for the licensing of sports clubs, private schools and Quran memorization centers, is responsible for the safety and protection of children while traveling on buses that are not bound by child protection standards and standards. And obligate them to apply the standards available in Emirates Transport buses, which include the installation of cameras on buses, and the provision of supervisors and supervisors during the transfer of students and young players.

Al-Shoumi pointed out that the official authorities holding the license in the country bear the primary responsibility for the safety of children in buses clubs, private schools and activity centers, as they are authorized by those parties, without requiring them to implement the standards of child protection in their facilities and buses, noting that the authorities responsible for activating Law, clubs and centers were not required to provide supervisors in their own means of transport.

She pointed out that clubs and centers can not rely on drivers to monitor and supervise children in the absence of supervisors, because the driver may be suffering from a psychological condition, and the child is sexually assaulted or physically beaten.

On the other hand, parents of students confirmed that school buses witnessed many abuses that require continuous monitoring until they are processed in order to protect the safety of students, explaining that the school buses are witnessing high numbers of students on one bus, in addition to the large number of cases of bullying among students during School trip, often without the attention of bus supervisors.

Two students in the fourth and seventh grades, Hatem Jalal, said he was taking his sons to their seats on the bus to reassure them that they were sitting comfortably. He said he could not go to work unless he supervised their seating, All the buses, after repeating the bus to leave the children, and move without making sure to sit, adding: «I remain worried about them until I make sure they come to school».

He pointed to the problem faced by children in school buses, as some companions are not fluent in Arabic, which makes it difficult for them to understand with children, not to mention their inability to resolve quarrels that sometimes occur among young people.

"After the first and second classes were integrated into one school, the school was forced to bring students from one area of ​​all ages together in one bus, which caused many of the harassment "My daughter arrives in tears many days because of her colleagues' harassment of her on the school bus, until she reached the point of not wanting to go to school by bus, and we complained to the school administration in vain."

The mother of a student in the fourth grade, Mai Abushmala, pointed out that her son's school uses its staff in kindergarten to work after school hours, supervising the school buses, which increases the burden on them after a hard day in teaching children, so the supervisor can not control And observe the behavior of students inside the bus, especially when they return to their homes.

She added that she is constantly suffering from the driver and supervisor's indifference by helping students, especially young people, to cross the street until they reach the entrances of the buildings in which they live. "The driver descends my son in the other direction of the street and leaves him crossing the street alone."

For its part, the Ministry of Education confirmed that it periodically monitors the school buses to ascertain their compliance with regulations and standards, including the related security and safety issues. The control team sends reports of all violations to the institutional licensing department, which in turn sends alerts and violations to schools according to the censorship reports .

She called upon the parents of students to file a complaint against any abuses that occur in their children's schools, whether in school buses or otherwise, through channels approved by the Ministry to file complaints.

The Ministry has adopted, in cooperation with Emirates Transport, the installation of a smart system for the safety of students in all school buses that provide daily transport services for all educational stages, including three intelligent devices installed on the bus and seven internal and external control cameras, digital recorders and central control systems. Possibilities of human error, and prevent cases of forgetting students in school buses.

The Department of Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities in Dubai confirmed that it is in the process of issuing a decree requiring the buses of the memorization centers in the Emirate to implement all standards of school transport by providing supervisor or supervisor of the bus to be responsible for them, in addition to providing parents of students of the centers with names and telephone numbers of supervisors, To ensure that the bus is free of students after reaching the final stations back and forth, as well as to contain each bus on a cooling system, so that the degree of not more than Freedom Of 24 ° C, and a first aid kit fit the number of students on the bus.

For its part, Emirates Transport confirmed to Emirates Al-Youm that it has no supervisory or supervisory role in passenger transport operations on buses.

She said that she is an operator like the other operators in the public and private sectors, pointing out her commitment to the implementation of laws and decisions issued by all competent transport departments, responsible for the legislative and regulatory roles in the passenger transport sector in the country.

For school bus accident statistics and child awareness guidelines on how to deal with a bus or vehicle, please click on this link.

Abadi: State laws guarantee the care of children

Ali Khadr al-Abadi, the lawyer of the state, confirmed that the state's laws guaranteed the children the right to protection and care by their authorities and the punishment of each child's neglect and danger, including the child being left alone in a vehicle or bus, Which stipulates that "a penalty of imprisonment or a fine of not more than 10,000 dirhams is punishable by endangering a child who has not been seven years old. This was in a place inhabited by people, whether by himself or by others." In addition to the Child Protection Act, "Wadima," who stressed the penalty of neglect and harm to the safety of the child, imprisonment and jealousy A.

Hamad Al Rahoumi: The first official bus driver

Federal National Council member Hamad al-Rahoumi confirmed that the driver is primarily responsible for cases of child forgetfulness, because the last person leaves the bus after the supervisor takes children to school, center or club.

Al-Rahoumi called on the concerned authorities to oblige drivers to pass a training course on safety for bus passengers, especially those carrying students from schools, various activities centers and clubs, and how to deal with emergencies.

• "Interior" warns of frequent forgetting children, and carry the accomplices legal responsibility.

• «Education»: 7 cameras in each bus, and ask the students to submit their observations.

• 12 cases of suffocation of children in vehicles and buses during 6 years, including 6 deaths.

• "Interior" warns of frequent forgetting children, and carry the accomplices legal responsibility.