(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Muscat -
Keeping the safety of students in mind, Omantel in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, is planning to bring more school buses under its 'Darb al Salama' (Road Safety) project.
Omantel launched the Darb al Salama project in 2018 to manage and track 450 public and private school buses in Oman. According to the company, this number is set to increase significantly by the end of the year to 3,000 buses.
Muna al Mamari, manager, press and media at Omantel, said, 'We anticipate Darb al Salama to gain momentum this year as the number of buses covered by the project will rise significantly.'
Upon getting on or off any of the school buses covered by Darb al Salama, each student will have to scan their designated card on the card reader. This will send a notification to the parents.
In total, four SMS are sent out every day – the first one before the bus arrives to student's home for pick up, the second when it reaches school, the third to notify departure of bus from school and the last when the student gets off bus to go home. Parents can also track bus route through the education portal. Some buses are equipped with monitoring cameras, and as a precautionary measure the engine button is set at the back of the bus, ensuring that the driver will have to walk through all the seats before ending his day.
The buses are equipped with a sensory detector that will send alerts upon any abnormal movement while the engine is off.
'Complete details of the school bus, student and parents are included in the system,' Muna added.
In a message to the school bus drivers, she said, 'New technologies do not mean ignoring the safety procedures. For instance, the bus driver should never neglect checking the bus thoroughly before getting off.'
Dr Ali Humaid al Jahwari, DG Directorate General of Education in Muscat and head of the Technical Team at Darb al Salama project, said, 'We urge all parents to avail this project by tracking their children while on school bus through the education portal or its mobile app.'
Dr Jahwari added, 'Currently, we are working to include additional 1,900 buses, in the Governorate of Muscat. 'We hope that we will eventually be able to cover all the school buses in Muscat, which will digitise the school transportation in the capital and offer schools a digital database to monitor students' transportation at all times.'
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