Kids safer, thanks to smart school bus tech

Muscat, Dec 31 - Parents need not to worry anymore about the safety of children travelling in school buses. A smart system will now let them know what time bus reaches home, what time he reaches school, what time the bus leaves school and what time he gets off the bus.
The Ministry of Education and Omantel on Monday launched Darb Al Salama (Safety Road) at a ceremony held at Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre under the auspices of Dr Madeeha bint Ahmed al Shaibaniyah, Minister of Education. The system offers smart transport with a comprehensive solution for school buses with facilities such as bus tracking, sensors, cameras, SMSes to parents, attendance for school administrators, etc.

Mohammed Said Ramdhan, at the Ministry of Education (MoE), said the system will provide information to both schools and parents, including change in bus route and speed at which the bus is travelling, with the help of cameras and other tracking aids.

If a driver is speeding, information on the driver, including his name and mobile number, will flash on the screen so the school can immediately warn the driver. In the future, parents will be able to see their child sitting in the bus on their mobile phones.

An important aspect of the system is the sensory detector that can pick up the slightest of movement, which is essential to help detect if a child has fallen asleep or has been left behind.

“When a student makes any kind of movement inside bus, the system will notify the person in charge at the school and the driver. The bus itself will set off the light and sound alarms,” said Mohammed.

Senior Product developer at Omantel, Khalifa al Salmi said the project has two years to customize the tracking solutions as per MoE’s requirements.

“It has internal and external cameras, sensors and card readers. Four SMSs are sent out each day – the first one when the bus approaches the house, the second when it arrives at school, the third to notify departure of bus from school and the last when the student gets off bus to go home,” said Khalifa.

Darb Al Salama is not just for public schools, but also for private schools.

“We have installed it in 450 public school buses and two private schools. We are proceeding very fast, thanks to the sponsors who have been coming forward. We hope to reach 1,000 buses in the next three months,” said Khalifa.

There are 17,000 public school buses in Oman. “If sponsors continue to come forward, we will be able to meet the target soon.” “Haya Water believes this is an important project as it protects children during their trips to school and vice-versa. Haya Water has sponsored 100 buses as part of its social responsibility,” said a company official.

This (the system) is important for the safety of students, said Hafidha al Foori, Headmistress of Al Bustan School. “I am worried about the safety of children until they arrive home. This is comforting,” said a mother.

The agreement between the Ministry of Education and Omantel was signed in February last year, according to which Omantel will supply the equipment to be fitted in school buses in both public and private schools.