MoE provides 1,676 school buses with drivers

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KUWAIT CITY, Feb 6: While more than half a million students of various educational stages attended their schools this morning, educational sources confirmed to Al-Jarida that the ministry is in the process of signing contracts for the provision of school buses with the Kuwaiti Public Transport Company, explaining that the supervisory authorities have approved the contracts that was put forward. The ministry recently provided 1,676 buses with drivers, reports Al-Jarida daily.

The sources stated that the implementation of the bus contracts will likely take place with the beginning of the next academic year 2023/2024, pointing out that the company has a deadline to work on providing the contract requirements of buses and drivers for a period of 3 months after signing the contracts, which will postpone the start of the implementation of these contracts until next year. It is difficult to provide the required numbers at present.

Conditions
Sources pointed out there is a possibility that the ministry would sign direct contracts for buses for special education schools for the second semester of the current year, taking into account the conditions of students with special needs, especially since they come from all regions of the country to these schools, which are mainly concentrated in the crowded Hawalli area.

The sources indicated that the ministry officials discussed this matter during a meeting last Thursday, pointing out that signing direct contracts falls within the powers of the Minister of Education and within financial limits that do not exceed 75,000 dinars per contract. With regard to the readiness of schools, the sources confirmed that the education authorities worked during the last period to prepare schools for the return of students, pointing out that cleaning workers were provided for all schools in the six educational regions, religious education and special education schools, through the ministry’s contracts with labor companies.

Cleaning
The sources stated that the Department of General Services and Services Monitoring in the educational areas coordinated with the specialized companies, which provided the required labor commensurate with the size of each school, in addition to providing direct labor that the ministry signed during the past year, pointing out that the schools underwent cleaning work as required.

The sources added that the educational facilities sector and maintenance departments in the regions have also completed the required maintenance work in most schools, pointing out that the air conditioning maintenance teams have begun equipping schools in terms of air conditioning and refrigerators so that they are ready with the onset of the expected rise in temperatures during the coming period. It is noteworthy to make a mention that the Ministry of Education stopped student transport buses with the start of the “corona” pandemic in 2020, and it has not yet been able to restart this service, which was intended for students in middle and secondary schools, in addition to providing a service for transporting students on trips organized by schools or if there are students staying far away from their schools.

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