DUBAI — Parents of children of an international school have been requested to bring their wards to school on August 30, a day before the new academic year begins, in order to avoid confusion over their addresses that occurred last year.
The International School of Choueifat, Dubai has sent letters to over 1,200 parents requesting them to bring their wards to school at 12 noon so that buses could 'test run' with the students and drop them back home.
The move is also aimed at familiarising bus drivers with the children's home locations.
The school authorities confirmed the move, saying they had resorted to this step to "iron out" problems and avoid a repeat of last year's mistakes, where many children were stranded in the school or reached home several hours late since the management had contracted a new bus company at the beginning of the academic year. The problem, in fact, persisted for several days, angering parents.
AS, an official from The International School of Choueifat, told Khaleej Times, "The test runs are aimed at smooth running of school buses. We have asked parents to bring them to school at 12 noon and will keep the students for an hour or two, after which the buses will take them home. We chose 12 noon as when the school reopens, it will follow the Ramadan timings and students will be dropped home at the same time followed during Ramadan."
Students will be given badges, bus numbers, routes, pick-up and drop-off timings and bus stops. There will be a huge board at the school's entrance displaying all information pertaining to bus numbers, routes and timings. The school's transport provider will also have all the information uploaded on its web site.
The school has also staggered the re-opening dates for the classes for transport purposes. Grade VII to Grade XIII will reopen on August 31, Grade I to Grade VI will begin on September 1, Kg II on September 2, while KG I will commence on September 3.
"We have staggered the re-opening dates, so it will give us sufficient time to prepare and iron out any transportation issues," AS added.