Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates - Sunday, October 12th 2014 [ME NewsWire]

The Executive Committee of School Transport released the smart systems specifications and requirements for Child Protection System in School Transport. These were developed as part of the school transport project, to implement the standards and legislations of school transportation. The committee members include the Abu Dhabi Police GHQ, Department of Transport and Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC). The committee stated that it will discuss the scope of compliance to the standard specifications related to school bus requirements, and the fulfillment of other standards.

Brigadier Eng. Hussein Ahmed Al Harithi, Director of Traffic and Patrols Directorate and Chairman of the Executive Committee of School Transport in Abu Dhabi, said: “The current phase cover 100 school buses in cooperation with Emirates Transport. Over the next phases, the project will cover the rest of school buses across the Emirate of Abu Dhabi according to a certain schedule.”

“We are keen to execute the directives of the higher leadership to enhance the security and safety journey of the country, especially in terms of safety and security requirements for our sons and daughters in schools. During the session of the Federal National Council last May, Lt. General HH Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, gave directives to launch an initiative to promote children safety and provide necessary protection aboard school transportation, with an electronic monitoring, in cooperation with a number of local and federal institutions and in line with the higher leadership directives,” Al Harithi added.

Al Harithi explained: “This initiative aims to guarantee children safety aboard school buses by monitoring bus location, route and stops, in addition to live audio-video monitoring, maintaining recordings and monitoring children as they get on and off the busses.”

Al Harithi added: “Abu Dhabi Police is proud to partner with the Department of Transport and ADEC for newly developed legislations to regulate school transportation, set the requirements and standards and monitor compliance. Schools are required to provide transportation to their students, whether through their own buses or by contracting with bus operator. They are also required to use buses that comply with the standards authorized by the Department of Transport, including seat belts and other security, safety and comfort measures.”

Al Harithi highlighted the importance of involving all society categories and empowering the role of schools, parents, education and administrative bodies and school bus drivers, in order to promote traffic safety for student during the new academic year.

Al Harithi said: “Traffic safety of our children is not the responsibility of a sole entity in the society; it is rather an integrated process. Families’ duty focuses on taking care of children and protecting them against traffic accidents, while schools must increase the level of monitoring the compliance with the authorized standards. On the other hand, school transport providers are required to implement these standards and requirements and promote traffic culture, while drivers in general should pay attention to students who cross the roads in the morning and in the afternoon.”

Al Harithi noted: “It is very important to promote communication among all concerned categories and sectors by increasing activities to raise awareness among students, drivers, and supervisors, in addition to printing booklets and brochures, including coloring books for children, and promoting awareness via games and other means.”

He also added that the UAE is among the safest and most secure countries in the world. He also called upon individuals and institutions alike to work hard on maintaining the security and stability of the country, and to protect the national gains in all fields. He also stressed on the commitment to deploying modern technologies in order to realize the Abu Dhabi 2030 Vision stating that the UAE must be among the top five e-government globally (in line with the UAE Federal Government Vision to lead the UAE to be among the best countries in the world in 2021)

Brigadier Al Harthi also noted that the leadership has worked with partners to review and develop regulations. A specialized team was assigned to coordinate with concerned partners in order to develop and implement a children safety system on school transportations. The system focuses on enhancing students’ safety and providing them with the necessary protection on school transportation in collaboration with a number of local and federal institutions.

Furthermore, Brigadier Al Harthi asserted that the initiative includes integrated smart security systems on school busses (such as monitoring, GPS, and bus tracking technologies, in addition to stops, live video and audio monitoring, saving recordings, monitoring children entering and exiting busses by providing smart solutions and services that relate to the “Hemayati” system, and link them to the Operation Room at the General Headquarters.) The initiative also specifies the roles and responsibilities of partners in setting regulations and conditions that ensure safe child transportation. The initiative focuses on the vehicle, driver, infrastructure, awareness, and education all of which ensure integrating projects, regulations, standards, and systems which limit the dangers of school transportations. He also noted that these specifications and standards will help handling school transportation challenges and the issues related or stemming from it.

Concluding Brigadier Al Harthi explained that the new system requires commitment to developing safety and security specifications, proceeding with developing tracking system conditions, monitoring school busses and their integration. Additionally, busses must be equipped with cameras, speed and accidents monitoring system, in addition to biannual evaluation standards for functional performance of the driver. These standards aim to reach the best advanced levels of safety and security. Students’ entering and exiting moves will be registered via a wearable technology that supports near field communication (NFC).

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Emirates Transport Hails Child Safety Project

Mohammed Abdullah Al Jarman, General Manager of Emirates Transport (ET) praised the distinguished social project “School Transport Safety Program” that was launched under the patronage and support of Lt. General HH Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior and in collaboration and coordination with Department of Transport in Abu Dhabi and Abu Dhabi Education Council. He also expressed his pride that the Emirates Transport has taken part in supporting this project.

Etisalat Supports the Social Project

Jamal Al Nuaimi, General Manager –Abu Dhabi Region- Etisalat highlighted the Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat) role and participation in this social and security project “School Transport Safety Program.” Etisalat also provided all support with operations enabled by informational structures and communication services. He also expressed his pride in the corporation’s participation in supporting the project.

He also explained that these efforts not only fosters child safety and protection by modern smart technologies, but also are the result of direct coordination and genuine partnership with specialized work teams at the Ministry of Interior. He said that they represent a continuation of previous initiatives and an answer for the needs of smart device users in society.

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Abu Dhabi Police, please click HERE

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The Arabic-language text of this announcement is the official, authoritative version. Translations are provided as an accommodation only, and should be cross-referenced with the Arabic-language text, which is the only version of the text intended to have legal effect.

Contacts

The UAE Minister of Interior's General Secretariat, Tactical Affairs and Security Media Department

Abu Dhabi Police GHQ - Security Media

Chris Cron +971-(0)-50-987-1317

E-mail: cron.media@hotmail.com

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