ABU DHABI // Following the tragic death of Nizaha Aalaa, other parents have expressed concerns over safety procedures on school buses.
The three-year-old kindergarten pupil died on Tuesday after being locked on a school bus in the stifling heat.
Anirudhan Veetil, an Indian father of two school-age children, recalled that a classmate of his daughter’s died in similar circumstances a few years ago.
He said he was shocked by the death of Nizaha, but also angry lessons had not been learnt from the previous incident.
“We were so terrified. Our school’s management and the relevant authorities gave us assurances that such a thing would not happen again but I know it has happened at least twice since,” said Mr Veetil.
Both of his children use a school bus to get to school, but as he and his wife work, Mr Veetil says he has no other option.
“We don’t have the time to drop off and pick up the kids every day. Hence we have to rely on these buses,” he said.
He also said on one occasion the bus driver dropped his daughter off at the wrong house after school, meaning they were unable to find her for a few hours.
“It was a terrible situation. We complained to the school authorities and the bus management. But at the end we got just an apology email,” he said.
He believed there needed to be more regulations regarding school buses.
“We have to train [the drivers] accordingly. They cannot run the school bus like a truck or public bus company. It’s a huge responsibility,” he said.
This was especially important because schools started so early in the UAE.
“Children are not properly awake in the early hours of the morning, like at 6.30am,” he said.
“Sometimes they are drowsy because they are on medication. At least for kindergartens, we should have a bit later hours.”
Tanzila Ahfaz, a Pakistani mother of two schoolchildren, had similar complaints.
“It is too early for your kids to ride a bus at 6.30am. We have to be considerate about that,” she said.
She prefers to drop her children off at school herself, partly because of the costs. She said it ranges from Dh12,000 to Dh15,000 a year for each child to use the bus.
“Besides being very expensive, there is not enough security, especially for kindergarten children on the buses.
“I don’t trust these buses because every few months we read about such tragic incidents. And there are many which are not even reported.”
She believed the buses should install cameras to monitor the children and drivers.
Shazi Mahsood, an Indian mother who lives in Sharjah, also called for the use of technology to improve.”
“There are so many electronic gadgets available these days which can detect if there is anyone inside a vehicle,” she said.
“There are cars in the market that are equipped with these kind of gadgets. These gadgets should be made mandatory in school buses.”
Mohammed Ziaullah Khan, a Pakistani, drives his six-year-old child to school rather then put him on a bus.
He said: “There should be a way to maintain an attendance sheet that makes sure that the number of pupils they pick up every day is the same number that are in class.
“This is especially important for children who are below 10 years old” he said.
akhaishgi@thenational.ae
