Schoolbus tracking system to ease anxiety of parents

Dubai: The constant worry of parents about the whereabouts of their children has prompted a school to install Global Positioning System (GPS), a tracking system, in their buses.

Michael Henry, Principal of Scholars International Academy, said safety concerns is an issue and by opting to have a tracking system installed, the school management has placed the interests of its pupils at the forefront. The service is being made available by the school free of cost. The system is being put in place by Trakker Middle East LLC, a company based in Abu Dhabi.

Opening shortly

The school, set to open its doors for the first time on September 16, will have classes up to Grade V. It follows the British Foundation Curriculum for Kindergarten 1 and 2 and the Cambridge International Primary Curriculum form Grade I to V.

"Once the system is operational, parents and the school management will have all the necessary information on how the buses are being driven and their location," said Henry.

Explaining how the tracking system will operate, Saji John, sales and marketing manager of the company, said the system will be able to transmit the location and speed of the vehicle to the computer server.

"The school administration will have a network connection. For parents we have a 24x7 dedicated call centre. They can call the centre through a toll free number," said John. "Each parent will be given a password by the school. When they make a call to the toll free number it will ask the parent the password and the bus number in which their child is traveling. In a few seconds parents will be able to get the location of the vehicle," he said.

John said the system will also be applied to other school buses across the emirates.

"There are other schools in the UAE which have shown an interest in getting the system for their school buses," he said.

Information: All 'schools should have a similar software'

Many parents said the tracking system will help them to stay calm. "There have been several instances when my five-year-old son has come late. "The driver of the school bus blames the traffic for the delay. I would panic if he gets late and call the school ... and wait anxiously for his safe return," said Nandini Acharya, a working mother.

"My son attends an Indian curriculum school and parents are provided with the mobile number of the bus supervisor, but it is of no use. Generally, the supervisor fails to pick up our call the days when the bus is late," said a parent.

Vineet G. Agnihotri, a parent, also had a similar experience. He said: "Whenever the school bus is late we call the driver. At times the driver does not pick up his phone and this leads to more panic. The GPS (tracking system) will help us to get first-hand information on where the bus is and why is it delayed."

David D'costa, another parent, said: "I think all schools should have such or similar tracking system that would help the parents, the pupils as well as the school management to streamline the transport system."

Abha Sahgal, Principal of Delhi Public School, Sharjah, said the GPS system in school buses would bring down the anxiety level among parents when the school buses run late.

She said: "It would save a lot of anxiety and also unnecessary tensions that exist between the parents and the school when the school buses bring children home late from school. It would better the relationship between the school and parents. What is really important is that the schools are getting information on the location of the buses."

- S.M.

Really wonderful idea. Parents can be more relaxed in times of road blocks or delay due to unexpected reasons. If the system can be web enabled using the web technology, visual location of the bus can be available through the PCs. Hats off to the developers and KGS.
Soman
Dubai,UAE
Posted: September 12, 2007, 12:28

It is a great initiative done by Scholars International Academy. It will definitely help parents to keep cool mind until their kids reach home safely.
Sony
Dubai,UAE
Posted: September 12, 2007, 10:52

While new technology to help the parent to track the bus is a good idea, a parent's worry is that at what cost? Although Scholars International Academy is going to offer the service free, making it mandatory will definitely increase the school fees, another blow to the already expensive private education.
S.M
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: September 12, 2007, 10:43

I Thank the person who invented this method and expect all schools to have a uniformity by adding this facility for the safety of all of their students and also to ease the anxiety of the parents.We all should give our fullest support to the authorities who is administering this as this is a must nowadays as there is no security of the where abouts of the children who are travelling in school busses due to the heavy traffic and also the road diversions.
Anne Marie
Dubai,UAE
Posted: September 12, 2007, 10:42

That's really a great idea, but what if the bus can be located through the website of each school, therefore there will be no need of calling the school and getting check, once you see that bus has arrived near your place, the concern person will go out and received the children from the bus.
Abu Saleh
Dubai,UAE
Posted: September 12, 2007, 09:17

It is a very good step. It will help us, the parents a lot. It should be made compulsory for all schools and all their buses. Last year my 3 year old daughter was left on the road by the bus driver and attendant as they had arrived before schedule and my wife was not there to receive her. Just imagine what could have happened.
Sayed
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: September 12, 2007, 09:09

I have my Son now 7 years old and 2 nieces going to Progressive School in Sharjah. It's a distance of 15 minutes from School to Alwahda street but leaving school at 1:30pm they reach home at around 2.45pm which really scares us. The tracking system if applied to all schools sooner the better would really relieve us parents.
Diana
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: September 12, 2007, 09:05

That's a great step forward. It reduces parents' tension and the kids too don't have to worry thinking if their parents are getting tensed about the bus delay.
Usha
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: September 12, 2007, 07:46

Good, only if this can be "enforced" to all schools, and integration with mobile phones, so that parents can easily get bus speed and location as an sms, once they require so.
Karkain
Dubai,UAE
Posted: September 12, 2007, 07:46

I strongly believe that such a system is a must, especially in a country like Dubai where multi national people reside. I hope all the other schools follow the same and go for the technology.It will be a big hassel and also a major safety concern and violation of rules for the drivers to pick the phone while driving.
Thamara
Dubai,UAE
Posted: September 12, 2007, 07:14