No dedicated service three years after Pakistan School Muscat bus crash in Oman

Muscat: Three years after a deadly crash claimed three lives, the students of Pakistan School Muscat (PSM) are still travelling to school in hired vehicles.
Three students of PSM were killed and two others critically injured, when their bus hit a vehicle belonging to the Muscat Municipality at Qurum Heights Road on January 22, 2014.
“Initially, we thought of plying our own school buses; then, we decided to hire government buses for the schoolchildren. However, we realised that most parents were not interested,” a senior official from PSM confirmed.
Ataullah Niazi, Senior Principal of Pakistan Schools in Oman, clarified that most of the parents rejected the proposal because of the rising costs. “Fearing that their transportation costs will go up drastically, the parents rejected our proposal and told us that they are happy to make their own arrangements,” he remarked.
Niazi said the school had only one bus, and that it was not being used to shuttle students between the school and their homes. “Parents are managing the children’s transport on their own, and the school has no role to play in this,” he said. Prayers were said on Sunday morning to mourn the students who lost their lives in the crash, and for the recovery of the two injured students.
A school official revealed that a crisis response team had been set up in the PSM schools. “We are preparing our students to face all kinds of crises. Once a crisis occurs, there is no time to figure out what to do. At that moment, everyone involved – from top to bottom – should be prepared,” the official added.
The management has also prepared a safety manual, which has been sent out to all PSM schools.
Parents divided
Parents, however, were divided on the issue of safe transport. “It would be great if the school has its own buses,” said Munawar Hameed, whose 14-year-old son died in a road accident in Ruwi in October last year.
Another parent insisted that the transport costs should be kept in mind.
“Though a secure transport system will be good, we cannot pay more than what we are paying right now,” a parent maintained.