Student safety on school buses; Top holiday spots for UAE travelers; Gulf News Editors comment on the top stories of April 2

WHY STUDENT SAFETY ON SCHOOL BUSES IS A CONCERN: The findings of a Sharjah study that half of the children in the UAE do not know how to exit a school bus if they are left inside must be taken seriously. Of equal concern is that the Child Safety Department’s study, which targeted children between the ages of six and eight from various nationalities, found that they do not know even how to draw the attention of passers-by to help them. This exposes the huge risks that the children face, including death due to lack of oxygen and high temperatures inside the bus over a prolinged period. It is time schools address the matter, tighten transport protocols and raise basic safety awareness among students. (COMMENT BY: Sharmila Dhal, UAE Editor).

TOP HOLIDAY SPOTS FOR UAE TRAVELLERS: With most students on a spring break and Eid Al Fitr holidays fast approaching, UAE residents have been looking out for the best travel deals. What might work as a deterrent for them, however, is that many countries are still taking several weeks to issue visas. As a result, only those who have received their visas well in advance will have a much longer list of travel destinations. The rest will have to manage with visa-free or visa-on-arrival spots. At a time when international travel is recovering and is close to reaching pre-pandemic levels, it’s critical that embassies, consulates and immigration departments are provided with all necessary resources to speed up the process of issuing visas. (COMMENT BY: Anupam Varma, Assistant Editor)

TIME FOR CHELSEA TO MAKE A CHANGE IN MANAGEMENT: The pressure is building on Chelsea coach Graham Potter as his side were beaten at Stamford Bridge by Aston Villa in the Premier League last night. The 2-0 defeat sees the Blues drop into the bottom half of the table for the first time since August. Since Potter took over the London club in September he has only managed seven wins. That works out to be one win a month. It simply is not good enough for the Blues who have supported the former Brighton manager – who came to the club with a very good reputation – in the transfer market by spending extremely heavily on new players only to see the team go backwards. But he has failed on the bigger stage. Chelsea are miles away in the race to qualify for next season’s Champions League and face a tough test against Bayern Munich in the last eight of this year’s competition. With top quality coaches available right now such as Zinedine Zidane, Jose Enrique and Julian Naglesmann, Chelsea may feel now is the right time to bring in a new face with a proven track record because the Potter experiment is not working. (COMMENT BY: Imran Malik, Assistant Sports Editor)