Following an accident which took place outside a school in Doha last week, school officials have called on parents to act responsibly and ensure their children reach school safely without crossing busy roads.
A report published in Gulf Times last week highlighted the difficulties that pedestrians face when trying to travel around the city, and a number of readers responded by describing a specific issue related to two schools on D Ring Road.
Birla Public School and Newton International School are situated on opposite sides of the newly opened six lane highway, and at the beginning and end of the school day, the roads outside the schools are transformed into chaos, with cars often stopping in the two right hand lanes to pick up or drop off students, or accompany them across the road.
Gulf Times spoke to officials of both schools, who were unanimous in their condemnation of the behaviour of a number of parents, claiming that they could not believe that they continue to cross the roads to save themselves time – especially after the recent accident.
Birla’s principal A K Shrivastava explained that new rules regarding road crossing have been put in place since last Wednesday, and emphasised that new measures mean that children are not being allowed to cross the road and enter the school – rather their parents must drop them off outside the school gates.
“Every morning I am standing at a vantage point to see who is still trying to do this,” he said, adding “but we need to be able to fine parents who continue to offend.”
He explained only around 400 of the school’s 4,100 students travel by car to school, claiming that this small number of parents should not be causing such a problem.
“But laziness and trying to save time mean that people are putting their children at risk,” he argued, adding “for the sake of five or ten extra minutes, parents can ensure their children reach school or home safely.”
A representative of Newton International School told a similar story, expressing her disbelief at the risk that many parents and drivers continue to take with their children’s’ safety.
“Parents need to care about their children more – they simply cannot assume that accidents won’t happen to them,” she said, adding “it is essential that people are educated about road safety to help avoid any future accidents.”
She also argued that a fence should be erected in the central reservation in the same way that others have been introduced in other sections of the D Ring Road.
“We have brought the issue up with the relevant authorities, and are waiting for a response,” she said, “we also have the issue of a lack of parking space which needs to be addressed, and both of these are matters that we are looking into very carefully.”
“People need to be educated,” she said, adding “by making simple changes we can make sure that children’s lives are saved.”
Both officials expressed their wish to send a strong message to the offending parents and drivers, and Shrivastava claimed that this behaviour would simply not be tolerated in the future.
“They must stop it completely – there is no reason for it and it is completely wrong,” he added.
please read this silly subject in gulf times;
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=296767...
Following an accident which took place outside a school in Doha last week, school officials have called on parents to act responsibly and ensure their children reach school safely without crossing busy roads.
A report published in Gulf Times last week highlighted the difficulties that pedestrians face when trying to travel around the city, and a number of readers responded by describing a specific issue related to two schools on D Ring Road.
Birla Public School and Newton International School are situated on opposite sides of the newly opened six lane highway, and at the beginning and end of the school day, the roads outside the schools are transformed into chaos, with cars often stopping in the two right hand lanes to pick up or drop off students, or accompany them across the road.
Gulf Times spoke to officials of both schools, who were unanimous in their condemnation of the behaviour of a number of parents, claiming that they could not believe that they continue to cross the roads to save themselves time – especially after the recent accident.
Birla’s principal A K Shrivastava explained that new rules regarding road crossing have been put in place since last Wednesday, and emphasised that new measures mean that children are not being allowed to cross the road and enter the school – rather their parents must drop them off outside the school gates.
“Every morning I am standing at a vantage point to see who is still trying to do this,” he said, adding “but we need to be able to fine parents who continue to offend.”
He explained only around 400 of the school’s 4,100 students travel by car to school, claiming that this small number of parents should not be causing such a problem.
“But laziness and trying to save time mean that people are putting their children at risk,” he argued, adding “for the sake of five or ten extra minutes, parents can ensure their children reach school or home safely.”
A representative of Newton International School told a similar story, expressing her disbelief at the risk that many parents and drivers continue to take with their children’s’ safety.
“Parents need to care about their children more – they simply cannot assume that accidents won’t happen to them,” she said, adding “it is essential that people are educated about road safety to help avoid any future accidents.”
She also argued that a fence should be erected in the central reservation in the same way that others have been introduced in other sections of the D Ring Road.
“We have brought the issue up with the relevant authorities, and are waiting for a response,” she said, “we also have the issue of a lack of parking space which needs to be addressed, and both of these are matters that we are looking into very carefully.”
“People need to be educated,” she said, adding “by making simple changes we can make sure that children’s lives are saved.”
Both officials expressed their wish to send a strong message to the offending parents and drivers, and Shrivastava claimed that this behaviour would simply not be tolerated in the future.
“They must stop it completely – there is no reason for it and it is completely wrong,” he added.