Doha: Drivers of private school buses lacking safe driving skills and awareness about the traffic law face the risk of being subject to punitive action. School buses are also under monitoring to ensure they meet the required safety standards, an official has said.
In a bid to upgrade drivers’ skills and teach them modern safety procedures, a British company’s traffic safety specialists will give awareness lectures on safe driving and traffic rules to drivers of private school buses.
The General Directorate of Traffic at the Ministry of Interior in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education will execute the plan, in collaboration with the British company. According to the plan, drivers of private school buses will have to pass an examination conducted by the company at the end of the three-day course. Otherwise their names will be sent to the Ministry of Education and Higher Education for necessary action, while the successful drivers will be given certificates of eligibility.
“The company will conduct a test at the end of the course and anyone who fails will be included in the list to be sent to the Ministry of Education and Higher Education by the Traffic Department.
In case of mistakes committed by any driver included in the list the Ministry will have to bear responsibility," an official of the Traffic Department told The Peninsula. The three-day course will include theoretical and practical lessons, and the schools will bear the cost of the course which will be moderate, the official added.
The lectures aim at promoting a traffic culture among drivers and reducing accidents. “The reason behind organising these courses is that there is a lack of monitoring of drivers of private schools. No one knows about their behaviours and they need more awareness on how to deal with students," said the official.
“Soon we will start the course. We are waiting for approval by the schools,” he added. The Department will also send a report about the conditions of private school buses and the safety requirements to Ministry of Education and Higher Education.
He said that the company chosen for the programme has vast experience and specialization and had conducted similar courses for many big companies, including those in the oil and gas sector. The Traffic Department had organized similar courses for around 900 drivers and supervisors of Independent school buses last month.
