DUBAI // Swipe card access, motion sensors and alarms on school buses are among the latest measures being introduced in Dubai and the Northern Emirates to improve safety.
The move is intended to prevent pupils being left in overheated vehicles, which claimed the life of one girl three years ago, along with several close calls.
Between August and October, the devices will be installed in 2,345 school buses and the system will be rolled out in November. It will cover all school buses that service the 100,000 students enrolled in 383 government schools in Dubai and the northern areas, the joint committee of the Ministry of Education and Emirates Transport said.
Emirates Transport said the three measures would work together to prevent pupils being left behind.
Every day, hundreds of thousands of parents in the UAE put their children on buses for the trip to school.
A total of 236,637 pupils in 786 schools across the country travel each day on 4,736 Emirates Transport buses, which provide travel to all public and some private schools. There are 5,336 drivers and 5,509 supervisors.
In the first three months of the year, Emirates Transport’s safety record was generally "good", with only one minor accident for every 321,000 kilometres covered, said Abdullah bin Swaif Alghufli, executive director of Emirates Transport’s school transport division.
"We ensure our buses comply with a set of safety requirements and standards," he said.
Over the past two years, a series of safety measures was launched by Emirates Transport and Abu Dhabi Education Council in Abu Dhabi.
School buses have been fitted with a device that counts the number of children getting on and off. A motion sensor detects movement inside a parked bus, and is connected to a system that triggers an alarm if someone remains on board.
A check button at the back of the bus requires the driver to walk down the aisle and verify that each seat had been vacated before he can press it. Speakers have also been installed to communicate to a child left inside the bus.
The new technology was largely driven by the death of a girl, 3, who was locked in a school bus in the autumn of 2014.
Nizaha Aalaa was in her first month at Al Worood Academy when she was left on the bus on the morning of October 7. Her body was found a few hours later.
"The safety aspects are so very important," said Robert Hodges, a UK-based road safety specialist.
"And as well as various systems already in place, I found that bus drivers and supervisors and attendants duties can be greatly improved by good quality training of the staff plus refresher courses held every six months or yearly. Often the simplest changes, if properly applied, result in very large improvements in safety."
In April 2008, human error claimed the life of a three-year-old boy. Aastish Shabin died of unknown causes after being left alone on a school bus overnight.
Twelve months later, the UAE lost another child, this time four-year-old Aiman Zeeshanuddin, who died of dehydration after she also was left on a bus. And in September 2011, a three-year-old girl whose identity was not released was killed when a school bus backed over her.
"All school bus drivers and supervisors undergo hours of training and awareness sessions," Mr Alghufli said. "On average, drivers are required to complete 10 training courses and sessions per school year."
The courses are traffic safety awareness, dealing with children, parents and the general public, first aid, emergency procedures and fire safety training.
"We take the safety of school pupils very seriously but we also strongly believe that it is a shared responsibility," Mr Alghufli said.
"That is why we endeavour to work with both the private and public sector to ensure the message of traffic safety is delivered."
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Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
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Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
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The specs
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The Details
Article 15
Produced by: Carnival Cinemas, Zee Studios
Directed by: Anubhav Sinha
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Sayani Gupta, Zeeshan Ayyub
Our rating: 4/5
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
About Proto21
Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
Staff: 18
Funding: Invested, supported and partnered by Joseph Group
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
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Key Points
- Protests against President Omar Al Bashir enter their sixth day
- Reports of President Bashir's resignation and arrests of senior government officials
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
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Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5