Required to provide distance learning during days of heavy fog and rain

Yesterday, private schools in Abu Dhabi postponed the morning departure of some school buses for 30 minutes, due to the low level of visibility on the roads, as a result of dense fog, while families of students in private schools in Abu Dhabi called for providing the option of distance learning during days that witness heavy fog. Or heavy rain, in order to protect students and reduce congestion on the roads, pointing out that students, especially children, feel a state of extreme fear while they are inside school buses and their parents’ cars, due to the lack of vision.

In detail, the parents of students: Muhammad Montaser, Khaled Rafiq, Rabab Al-Ahmad, and Ashwaq Saadoun stressed the importance of providing the option of distance learning for students, during days of heavy fog, indicating that they are worried about their children, due to the fog and low visibility that may cause accidents, as well as They find it difficult to take their children to school during heavy fog, and they arrive to school late, as a result of the speed limit being significantly reduced.

The families of students: Amjad Romani, Hossam Sayed, and Manal Atef explained that days of heavy fog and rain are predicted a while before they occur, and are expected, and therefore schools can designate them as days on which distance learning is available, especially since many students reside in areas far from school. They need at least about 45 minutes to arrive on normal days, and this period doubles during times of fog or during heavy rain, when the speed-reducing system is activated on the roads, in addition to the dangers of driving with children during bad weather.

While the parents of students: Adham Rashid, Muhammad Essam, Zainab Abdullah, and Alia Sami, indicated that distance education has become a realistic educational option known to everyone, and had previously been implemented during two academic years, and was implemented last October during the first semester, also due to fog. Therefore, there is no difficulty in making it optional on days when heavy fog or heavy rain is expected, so that the school calendar can be linked to the climate forecasts issued by the official authorities in the country, and the days during which dual education is permitted (attendance or distance learning) are not permitted. Counting them as part of the days of absence or linking attendance during them to behavior grades.

Parents of students riding school buses indicated that the buses were late yesterday for no less than 45 minutes, pointing out that their children found it very difficult to recognize the bus when it arrived due to the fog, and the students were gathering in front of any bus that stopped to identify it. It is their bus or belongs to students in front of the building, which increases their risk of being run over, in addition to their fear and anxiety while they are inside school buses.

For their part, officials in private schools, who “preferred not to mention their names,” confirmed that they delayed registering students’ attendance yesterday until 8:30 a.m., delayed school buses by 30 minutes for remote areas that take highway routes, and canceled the school queue, taking into account the circumstances. Students, out of concern for the interest and safety of students, teachers, and administrators.

They pointed out that schools implement a flexible working policy in the event of bad weather and fog, which allows students and teachers to be late for school for three hours, calculated from the official start date, according to the management and coordination discretion of both parties, pointing out that in every school there is a An employee responsible for communicating and coordinating with the relevant authorities in cases of bad weather, and complying with their instructions in the event that work is decided to be suspended, and considering the possibility of delaying work in difficult weather situations, in coordination with bus operators, and communicating with students and their families, and informing them of any case of disruption or delay. For work.

They stressed that the administrative framework for school transportation requires school bus operators to monitor the weather condition through coordination with the National Meteorological Center, and to coordinate with school administration in the event of delaying or disrupting school hours during difficult weather conditions, and to ensure that drivers and supervisors receive the necessary training to take action. In such cases, ensure that all loading and disembarkation points prepared in advance within risk plans are free of obstacles during difficult weather conditions, in addition to the presence of alternative embarkation and disembarkation points.

Fog season

Member of the Arab Union for Space and Astronomy, Ibrahim Al-Jarwan, confirmed to Emirates Al-Youm that the fog formation season in the region in general starts from mid-October to mid-March, indicating that fog formation is concentrated after midnight until after sunrise, mainly during… The months of October and March, with an average of more than seven days of dense fog, then comes at a lower rate during November and February, with an average of more than five days of dense fog.

Al-Jarwan explained that the fog is mostly of the type of “radiation fog” that forms at the end of the night during the early morning hours, as a result of surface cooling and the loss of the heat stored in objects during the night by radiation. The thickness of this type of fog usually does not exceed 500 metres, so it can The upper floors of tall buildings, such as Burj Khalifa, are usually above fog level.

He pointed out that there is fog associated with rainfall and cold, humid weather, and this type is concentrated between mid-December and mid-February, explaining that the density of fog depends on the conditions of the area of ​​formation, pointing out that drivers face a problem while driving in the winter, as a result of the low level of visibility on the roads. , due to the fog descending.

• School officials: Implementing flexible working hours in the event of bad weather.