Al Ain: Private and public schools opened in the UAE welcoming hundreds of thousands of students following the winter vacation on Sunday.
The roads were thronged with school busses and private vehicles early in the morning, transporting students to their respective educational institutions.
More than 95 per cent of students in kindergarten, primary and secondary levels yesterday attended their schools in the city, said Salem Abdul Aziz Al Khetheri, Director Al Ain Education Zone.
The Al Ain Education Zone was decidedly busy for the last several days in preparations, renovations of schools and arranging stationary and books for the students. The last two days were hectic for the zone when most of its officials were out in the field to monitor the smooth operations of the schools.
Al Khetheri said that all the schools were equipped with all the necessary facilities to help teachers and students in the teaching and learning process. He himself visited a number of public schools and said the there was no shortage of teachers or books in any school.
The main public schools are located, apart from the town centre, in the areas such as Al Maqam, Al Jimi, Al Khubasi, Al Manaseer, Al Sulaimi, Al Sarooj, Al Qattara, Al Jahili, Al Masoudi, Al Wagan, and Al Mutaredh districts of Al Ain.
The traffic police also department deployed extra officials to coordinate and maintain the smooth traffic flow on the busy arteries of the city.
Over the last several years, the civic administration has been struggling to find a solution to the traffic problems in the private schools district. A large numbers of vehicles come there to drop and pick up students at the peak hours. In January 2010, Al Ain Municipality had announced a plan to alleviate the growing traffic problem.
Al Ain has launched the much-awaited construction and development project in July last year to streamline the traffic and alleviate the nightmarish congestions in the district. The Dh119 million project includes converting roundabouts into interchanges, expansion of internal roads and installation of traffic signals.
The project, he said, will be implemented in four phases. The first phase include the establishment of a dedicated road for school buses behind the private schools that is expected to reduce the pressure from the cars’ parking area.
With still the construction work going on in the area, parents yesterday complained of traffic congestion.
“Nothing has improved yet … It’s the same problem,” said Abdullah Zaman, father of three children, whom he dropped at their school.
Walid Ahmad, another expatriate, said he was stuck in the traffic for almost an hour.
“The roads were full with all sorts of vehicles inching towards the school,” he said.
