Khaberni - The spokesperson for the Land Transport Regulatory Authority, Abla Al-Washaah, said on Tuesday that the school transport agreement is a qualitative step towards enhancing fairness in access to education among students, pointing out that ensuring students' access to schools impacts job opportunities and community development.
She confirmed in statements to “Al-Mamlaka” channel that the Land Transport Authority has relied since the beginning of this project on specialized and comprehensive studies on the reality of school transport in various regions of Jordan, adding that the studies showed that there is an actual need to provide school transport services to remote areas facing challenges accessing public schools, specifically in the Badia areas initially.
She explained that the buses used in transportation will be safe in addition to being timely according to specific schedules, noting that the buses will be monitored through tracking devices which facilitates the control of the service operators’ compliance.
The Ministry of Education and a coalition of local and international companies; signed on Tuesday, in the governorate of Ma'an, the final operating agreement for the project “Proof of Concept of School Transportation in the Southern Badia and Aqaba region,” signaling the beginning of the project implementation with the start of the upcoming academic year.
The agreement aims to organize the contractual relationship between the two parties; to implement the government school transport proof of concept project in partnership with the private sector, to transport government school students, their teachers, and staff in the operational areas.
The agreement was signed on behalf of the Ministry of Education by its minister Azmi Mahafaza, and on behalf of the coalition by representatives of the companies involved in the project implementation, in the presence of the Minister of Investment Tareq Abu Ghazaleh, the governor of Ma'an Khalid Al-Hajaj, and the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Education for Administrative and Financial Affairs Sahar Al-Shakhateera.
The project is part of a government initiative to develop the school transport system and to provide a safe, regular, and free transport service for students, which contributes to reducing the financial burdens on families and enhancing student attendance in their schools, supporting the educational process, with plans to gradually expand to include all governorates of the kingdom.
In his remarks during the signing ceremony, Mahafaza indicated that the project represents a qualitative step in supporting the education sector and improving the educational environment for students, embodying the government's commitment to providing a safe and fair educational environment for all students, and addressing one of the most significant challenges faced by families, represented by school transportation, through sustainable solutions that ensure easy and safe access of students to their schools.
Abu Ghazaleh said the free school transport project represents a practical model of effective partnership between the public and private sectors, reflecting the government's direction towards attracting quality investments directly linked to improving the quality of services provided to citizens.
He added that the project not only provides a safe and free transport service for students but also contributes to creating direct job opportunities and stimulating economic activity in the governorates, especially in the Southern Badia areas, contributing in its first phase to providing 300 direct job opportunities, emphasizing that the project represents a launch for a number of developmental projects that the government intends to pursue to enhance balanced development among the governorates.
On their part, representatives of the coalition of companies participating in the project implementation confirmed that the executing coalition owns extensive experience in implementing similar projects, and these companies had previously implemented similar projects in several Arab countries in the region.
They explained that the project will adhere to the highest technical and operational standards to ensure sustainability, efficiency, and quality of service, pointing out that the partnership between the public and private sectors in this project represents a successful model in implementing developmental projects with a direct impact on citizens.
