"Dubai roads" have provided facilities for schools ... and "knowledge" requires prior approval

Private schools reduce school days and raise bus fees

  • Cleaning and sterilizing school buses on a daily basis to protect students.

    Photography: Ahmed Arditi

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Relatives of students in private schools reported that the school administration raised school bus fees for the current academic year, to varying proportions, despite the decrease in daily school bus trips during the implementation of the "hybrid education" system, which incurred families sums of money in light of the impact of incomes due to the "Covid" -19 », and a private school decided to increase the bus fees compared to the last academic year, without giving reasons, while it was not possible to obtain a response from other schools.

For its part, the Roads and Transport Authority in Dubai confirmed not to raise the cost of the bus rental service owned and operated by the Dubai Taxi Corporation, to private schools in the emirate, during the current academic year, while the Knowledge and Human Development Authority required obtaining prior approval from it to increase the bus fees.

The Knowledge and Human Development Authority, in the recently issued “Procedures for Opening Private Schools in Dubai” guide, specified several precautionary measures to provide student transportation service, to protect them from the Corona virus and limit its spread.

In detail, families of students in private schools told "Emirates Today" that their children's schools notified them to raise school bus fees, despite the fact that hybrid education made students go to school for two weeks and receive education "online" for two weeks.

Mahmoud Hamdi (the father of a student) said: “When we asked to participate in the school transportation service, we were surprised to see that its fees were raised over the last academic year, by more than 1500 dirhams, despite the decrease in the number of trips to transport the student from home to school and vice versa, for students who chose System (Hybrid Education) ».

He added that the application of precautionary and preventive measures in school transport made the bus operate at less than half of its capacity of students, as the preventive measures do not allow the number of students per trip to exceed 50% of the bus’s capacity, to ensure the achievement of physical spacing inside it, so schools decided to raise fees School transport service, to compensate for the decline in its gains that were achieved in the past years before the Corona pandemic.

Sherine Hussein (the mother of two students) supported him, saying that her two children's school increased transportation service fees than it was in the last school year, although the distance of the school trip between home and school is the same, in addition to the decline in fuel prices, which means that there is no justification for increasing fees. the service.

She added that she has to transport her two children by school bus because their work starts at seven in the morning, and she does not have time to take them to school in her private car.

Randa Alwan (student's mother) said: “In past years I used to share a private car for my child (Car Lift), but the health conditions due to the (Corona) pandemic made us reluctance to do so, and we prefer the school bus because it is safer and more precautionary measures, but the school raised Fees significantly, and became equivalent to about 40% of school fees ».

And she demanded that schools take into account the impact of the income of many families due to the current circumstances, by reducing bus fees, not increasing them, following up: “It is necessary for everyone to bear part of the responsibility, and that schools do not place profit at the top of their priorities in an exaggerated manner.”

A private school for "Emirates Today" approved an increase in school transportation fees for the current academic year compared to the last academic year on daily school trips to all regions without giving reasons, while it was not possible to obtain a response from other schools about the increase in fees for this service.

For his part, Executive Director of the Dubai Taxi Corporation at the Roads and Transport Authority in Dubai, Dr. Yusuf Al Ali, said that the cost of renting school buses through the Dubai Taxi Corporation is among the best and lowest prices traded in the market, stressing that the authority of the institution does not Includes setting or setting school bus fees.

He stated that the Foundation took into account the conditions and challenges imposed by the Corona pandemic in the school transport sector as in all other sectors, stressing that facilities were provided in the payment of rented schools for school buses from the Roads and Transport Authority, and an agreement was made with it on a new form of contracts that guarantees the rights of both parties in light of these Exceptional circumstances.

Al Ali explained that the Foundation showed flexibility with the schools as they were allowed to pay according to their current need for buses, and not according to the number of buses stipulated in the contracts previously concluded, adding that in return, the contracts concluded were extended to additional time periods to ensure that schools are committed to obtaining service from the institution. This, in turn, ensures the protection of the rights of both parties.

He pointed out that the current exceptional circumstances must change, and cooperation is currently required in the interest of everyone, stressing that it is commercially and investment logical for the institution to keep its customers from schools instead of restricting them and not taking into account their circumstances resulting from the challenges of the pandemic.

He stressed that the cost set by the corporation when launching the school bus rental service is one of the lowest prices among the companies operating the buses, as the authority conducted a study before determining it based on the numbers and costs circulating in the market, pointing out that the corporation operates in its system like any commercial investment company, and is subject to To oversee and manage the Roads and Transport Authority in Dubai.

Al Ali added that there are two systems that the corporation uses to rent the school bus: the first is the rental of the seat, whose prices are lower than market prices by about 30%, and the second is the whole bus rental for the school, and its prices are less than the market prices by a rate ranging between 15% and 20% according to the type of the bus.

He stressed that the price set by the school as fees owed by the students' families after they rent the bus from the institution is due to the school administration, and the institution has nothing to do with it.

For his part, the Executive Director of the Permits and Compliance Sector at the Knowledge and Human Development Authority in Dubai, Mohammed Ahmed Darwish, confirmed that “non-educational services, including transportation service, are provided in one of two ways: the first is through the school itself, and in this case it is subject to the authority’s requirements and procedures. The window, including the school’s ineligibility to increase service fees except after obtaining the prior approval of the Commission, while the second method is to contract with external parties to provide the service, and in this case it is subject to the jurisdiction of other parties.

The "procedures for opening private schools in Dubai" stresses the need for "school transportation" to use half the capacity of school buses, with the need to put signs on the chairs to guide students to the seats that are allowed to be used, and to check the temperature of all students who get on the school bus, and any passenger His temperature is 37.5 degrees Celsius or above. He is not allowed to board the bus, and assistants are forbidden to be at their work in school buses if they are over 60 years old, or who suffer from chronic diseases or weak immunity, and all bus passengers should wear masks, except for children who Under the age of six years.

And the guide obliges to maintain sterilization of school buses by following specific sterilization procedures, as every part of the bus must be sterilized after each use, and in line with the relevant instructions issued by the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority regarding public transportation, as well as maintaining the conditions of physical distancing, and a record must be kept. On a daily basis, all bus passengers are registered during transportation trips, in addition to absence registration.

If symptoms of the Coronavirus begin to appear on a student while riding the bus, he should be considered a suspected case, and the bus aide immediately informs the school health and safety official, who in turn communicates with the school administration and the student’s guardian.

If the bus trip is to deliver students to their homes, then the suspected student must be delivered first, and if the trip is to deliver students to the school, then the student should be isolated and sent home, and he should not return to school before the PCR results appear, and his result is determined. It was negative, so the student does not return to school until the symptoms of infection disappear, and if they are positive, then all people who have been mixed with the injured person, whether they are from the educational staff, bus passengers, or others, are tracked down, as each of them must enter a quarantine for a period of 14 days.

21 schools and universities

The Roads and Transport Authority in Dubai said that the number of educational establishments that contracted with the Dubai Taxi Corporation at the beginning of the 2019-2020 academic year reached 21 schools and universities, including six schools with the seat rental system, and 15 schools with the bus rental system, and the service delivery prices ranged. As for the seat system, it ranged between 3,500 dirhams and 8,600 dirhams, depending on the school classification.

Fears of students

The Roads and Transport Authority in Dubai stated that it did not raise the cost of the school bus rental service owned and operated by the Dubai Taxi Corporation during the current year, in response to a question to “Emirates Today” about concerns among students' families that school administrations charge the percentage of loss resulting from Reducing the student capacity per bus, and operating fewer school buses due to distance learning, as a result of applying the preventive measures taken to limit the spread of the Coronavirus.

Hygiene and sterilization practices

The “Procedures for Opening Private Schools in Dubai” guide emphasized that school buses that use scroll cards to log in should maintain the sterilization of scrolling devices and cards, and the assistant on the bus supervises this, and sufficient signs should be added inside the bus to direct students towards adopting hygiene and sterilization practices.

And he stressed the need to follow appropriate practices for sterilization and disposal of waste, especially that students may use trash bins and back pocket openings for seats, and it is necessary to ensure that proper ventilation is available on the bus at all times, taking care to avoid air recycling and encourage the use of windows whenever possible.

Students with students prefer school buses as they provide precautionary and preventive measures.

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