4,200 new buses for Saudi schoolgirls

SCHOOL BUSES: New buses are being introduced for schoolgirls in Saudi Arabia.

More than 4,000 new, air-conditioned buses chauffeured by Saudis will be deployed as part of a project by the Ministry of Education to provide transport to and from school for 367,000 schoolgirls in four regions of the Kingdom.

Prince Khaled Abdullah Al-Meshari, deputy minister for girls education, signed an agreement for 4,200 40-seater buses with Yousef Naghi, president of Hafil Transport Company in Riyadh, which will implement the new system in the provinces of Riyadh, Makkah, Qassim and the Eastern Province, reported Arab News on Tuesday.

It is hoped the scheme will expand to other provinces and provide transportation for teachers as well.

The project, which is called 'Al-Ameen' (Trustworthy), is aimed at lessening the time that parents spend shuttling their girls to school in a safe and culturally appropriate manner.

The exclusion of foreign bus drivers is aimed at making the program an opportunity for employment of qualified Saudi men.

Under the current system, the consignment of bus services is up to the local school and the parents who make their own arrangements to hire shuttling services.

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