Back to school: Sharjah school bus drivers, supervisors learn ‘golden rules’ for child safety
Two-day refresher workshop for 900 drivers covers fire, accidents, drop-offs, road rules
Sharjah: Covering the safety of students during their bus commute, the Child Safety Department (CSD), an affiliate of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs (SCFA) in Sharjah, hosted a two-day workshop titled ‘School Bus Safety Golden Rules’.
The workshop was part of CSD’s comprehensive yearly campaign themed, ‘Their Safety First’, and attended by around 900 bus drivers, supervisors and navigators who are responsible for the bus commutes of thousands of schoolers across Sharjah. It was held in collaboration with Sharjah Police Headquarters, Emirates Transport, and Sharjah Civil Defence Authority.
Raising awareness
The workshop was designed to raise awareness about the hazardous spaces surrounding the bus while students board or disembark. It also highlighted the importance of ensuring that students are fully evacuated from buses in the morning and evening. The sessions also taught attendees the necessary steps in case of a fire or accidents, including how to safely evacuate students during such incidents.
Session speakers highlighted bus drivers’ responsibilities to ensure the safety of students, including monitoring their boarding and deboarding from the bus, respecting speed limits and traffic laws and proper steps to take in case of accidents and fire incidents.
Hotline number
Participants were also reminded of the child protection hotline number 800700 to report any risks to the safety of children while they are being transported on school buses.
The speakers discussed how students should properly eembark and disembark the buses and that they are received by their families before moving to the next destination, in addition to ensuring the school bus is empty at the end of every journey.
Nahla Hamdan, CSD deputy manager, said they are working “continually to consolidate cross-departmental efforts with its partners in raising the awareness of all those involved in bringing up and caring for the emirate’s children.”