Mariam Bukhatamine (Ras Al Khaimah)
“Emirates Transport” is proceeding within a codified and deliberate strategy aimed primarily at the interest of the student and the educational field, by achieving the highest standards of security and safety during the school trip, through the vision of integrated transportation and sustainable growth, which is consistent with the mission of the institution, which is to provide transportation, leasing, school transportation and technical services. And related logistics, in accordance with the standards of occupational and environmental safety and security for its corporate and individual partners and customers. Emirates Transport is working to develop its financial resources within a framework of governance, risk management and meaningful investment, through a comprehensive system in the transportation sector and integrated services.
Youssef Al-Qursi, Director of Ras Al-Khaimah Transport Branch, confirmed that there are continuous plans and programs that are implemented in the company, including the development of services provided in Emirates Transport, which are being improved and developed on the one hand, and setting appropriate quantitative and qualitative development plans at the level of the company on the other hand, in order to meet the needs. In the field, and in particular school transport, the company has recently focused its efforts on improving digitization and automation processes and employing smart applications in favor of facilitating and organizing services. Optimally, in addition to working on the OneET platform and many others.
And Al-Qursi indicated that the number of workers in the Ras Al-Khaimah branch “and those in charge of school transport operations / government and private” includes about 1066 male and female employees, including 525 school bus drivers, and 613 transportation and safety supervisors and supervisors working in a number of 747 itineraries, of which 665 are itineraries. single and double for government school transport and 82 private school transport lines, indicating that «Emirates Transport» is keen to provide the highest levels of safety and comfort for our students. This is according to the school transport regulations and legislation in the emirate.
Extensive experiences
And the director of the Ras Al Khaimah branch noted that «Emirates Transport» has extensive experience in the field of school transport that extends for more than 41 years, which allows it to have a safe and smooth transport process without any delay. A wide range of training, awareness and guidance programs, which the Emirates Transport Training Center provides on a regular basis to all employees, especially drivers and transport and safety supervisors. In this context, during the past year, for example, 48 training programs for drivers and 19 programs for transport and safety supervisors were presented. The company level implemented 33 thousand training hours.
The axes of these training programs focused on safe driving, loading and unloading students, the bus inspection system, first aid principles, fire extinguishing principles, the golden rule, emergency evacuation, transportation of people of determination and many other programs related to school transport services, in addition to awareness-raising efforts. Various activities, including, for example: the lectures and trainings it provides to field work teams specialized in the field of environment, safety, and occupational health, in addition to issuing a number of short awareness films directed to workers and school students as well.
Al-Qursi indicated that the number of school buses operating in the emirate amounts to about 525 buses, of which 443 buses are for government school transport and 82 buses for private school transport. School transport services are provided to 69 schools, including 65 government schools and 5 private schools, benefiting approximately 20,100 students. , including 18,500 male and female students in public schools and 1,600 male and female students in private schools, indicating the keenness of «Emirates Transport» to carry out its roles regarding the issue of Emiratisation, in line with government directions in this field, as it intensified its efforts to attract national competencies, and made available It has diverse job opportunities and rich career paths, and in turn we work in Ras Al Khaimah in the same direction.
Regarding the periodic maintenance of school buses, he explained that the buses are subject throughout the year to intensive preventive maintenance programs, including a comprehensive program for rehabilitative maintenance for the academic year that takes place during the summer vacation, to which all school buses are subject. He also revealed the addition of 490 new buses that joined the service in order to meet The needs of school transport services, and ensuring the optimal performance of services to meet the aspirations of customers.
Enhanced software and technologies
In the field of enhanced programs and technologies, Hilal Al Marzouqi, Director of the Student Registration Project at Emirates Transport, said that Emirates Transport has launched the service of counting and registering students in the government school transport service for the next academic year 2022-2023 through the company’s school buses, and an advanced service aimed at achieving security and safety. During the school trip, through a new system that counts the numbers and data of public school students wishing to obtain the school transportation service, explaining that the system aims to enhance the experience of the customer with the school transportation service and develop the system of digital services associated with it, by collecting student data and facilitating and organizing procedures Register them in the government school transport service and a sufficient period before the start of the new academic year.
He pointed out that as part of the plan to introduce the system and its positive benefits to parents and their students’ children, and to initiate the implementation plan, SMS messages were sent to parents and families of students, including the registration link through the “Chat Bot” service on the WhatsApp global communication application, supported by instructions provided by it. The virtual assistance is “safe”, and those wishing to register will have to follow a number of simple steps according to which they include the Emirates ID number, mobile phone number, specify the location of the residence, and add the data of students wishing to use the school bus to reach the school, and in the event that they do not receive a text message, Students’ families can call the free number 8006006 to provide them with the service link. In light of the data received, the request will be analyzed and reviewed and the most appropriate path for providing the service will be chosen according to the path improvement system, so that the student can then benefit from the service.
He stressed that the launch of the system for counting and registering students in the government school transport service for the new academic year 2022-2023 through the company’s school buses has achieved clear success, as the system aims to collect and register students’ coordinates, in addition to implementing the “Your Children Are Safe” initiative, which was previously developed in cooperation with A number of entities, the company also provides the smart application “Hafalati” for parents so that they can directly follow the bus’s itinerary, in addition to providing the smart platform “ONE-ET” that allows school administrations to view the transport data for each bus separately, and to follow up on performance indicators of the transport service. .
Advance monitoring
He stressed the importance of monitoring and prior inventorying of such data, in order to ensure the provision of the best school transport services in the country, by taking advantage of modern technical solutions, which also contributes to saving time and effort for parents, as it is an easy platform through which they can complete the process of registering their children in the service. at any time and from anywhere, in addition to its simplicity, ease of use, accessibility, and availability for all, which would combine together to enhance the levels of satisfaction and happiness of the company’s customers, parents of students in government schools.
School transportation tasks
The company transports 170,000 male and female students studying in 504 public schools. It has allocated 4,161 buses, including 100 buses equipped for people of determination. These buses also include 490 new school buses. The service is managed by 4,200 drivers and 4,155 transport and safety supervisors, through Through 9 branches that provide school transportation services with 26 specialized stations for school transportation service in various parts of the country, and at the level of the private school sector, 54,794 male and female students receive transportation service to 122 schools through 2,256 buses and 2,256 drivers. The company has also included within its transportation services in the field of University transfer to a number of universities, institutes and colleges.
Rehabilitation and training
Emirates Transport is keen to continuously qualify and train all work crews, including drivers and supervisors, to ensure that they are able to perform the tasks entrusted to them during the daily school transport operations. Emirates Training, in cooperation with a group of government agencies, to ensure the provision of services in a manner that reflects the importance of safety, as 33,000 training hours were implemented, and the axes of these training programs focused on safe driving, loading and unloading students, the bus inspection system, first aid principles, and fire extinguishing principles. Firefighting, the golden rule, emergency evacuation and other programs related to school transportation services. The center is also equipped with the latest technologies needed to train drivers on fire and self-extinguishing simulators and another simulator for safe driving.
Awareness and education
In order to enhance safety efforts, Shukr indicated that the company has issued a number of short awareness films directed at school students, and aims to launch and publish them in cooperation with school administrations through the various channels available in conjunction with the beginning of the year, in addition to linking students to a culture of security and safety through lectures, educational events and competitions, and training on The golden rule for getting on and off the bus, in the school yards, considering safety as a basic value of the company. An instructional video was also produced for the company’s staff, dealing with the daily inspection of buses at 27 inspection points on the bus, to ensure their safety before embarking on the school trip, in addition to the Department of Environment and Safety continuing the daily field control operations on all branches and stations of school transport in the company. To ensure that all procedures and requirements are applied correctly.
Safety procedures
Khaled Shukr, Director of the Quality, Environment, Safety and Occupational Health Department of the company, indicated that the company has updated the work manuals for safety procedures in school transport, as many health and preventive requirements have been put in place to ensure the safety of students in all details and stages of work while transporting students in Mwasalat school buses. Emirates, reiterating the company’s commitment to securing school buses that conform to the specifications and standard standards approved by the concerned authorities at the federal and local levels in the UAE, especially the requirements related to smart safety systems in buses, drivers and transport and safety supervisors, in addition to the requirements related to awareness and training for drivers, supervisors and students internally and externally. In cooperation with strategic partners, he confirmed that all buses were subjected to regular maintenance patterns, as well as remedial maintenance, additional systems inspection and trial operation.
security cameras
Those in charge of the company’s digital transformation process indicated that the company’s school bus is equipped with an integrated television circuit that includes 7 internal and external surveillance cameras, in addition to systems that check the bus to ensure that it is free of students at the end of the trip, and an electronic tracking system developed on all buses of the school transport fleet to measure the performance of The driver, through which the company aims to enhance drivers’ commitment to safety standards while driving, such as sudden stops, acceleration and excessive speed, in addition to contributing to the verification of complaints and observations on buses and drivers, and identifying the root causes when any accident occurs during the school trip, in addition to the institution employing There are many safety and security measures available in the school bus fleet, which comply with local regulations and legislation and are in line with international best practices.
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