Muscat – On the first day of the new academic year, a Grade 10 student died when she was run over after alighting from her school bus in Seeb, Muscat, on Sunday.

Confirming the incident to Muscat Daily, an official of Royal Oman Police (ROP), said, “A tenth-grade girl of Um Waraqah al Ansriah School died after being run over in the Mabelah area of Seeb.”

‘The school administration mourns the death of Hoor Hatem al Sadiyah, who passed away today. The school extends its deepest condolences and sympathy to her family and relatives,’ Um Waraqah al Ansriah School stated.

ROP urged all commuters to slow down and take more care and caution when driving in the vicinity of schools. It also called on all school bus drivers to abide by safety measures while transporting students to their schools and back home.

On Sunday, the beginning of the 2022-23 academic year, 729,331 students returned to 1,242 schools. Of these, students, 368,184 (50.9 per cent) are male and 361,147 (49.5 per cent) female.

According to the Ministry of Education (MoE), 57,033 teachers and 10,834 administrators and technicians returned to work all over the sultanate on August 28.

As part of its efforts to provide security and safety for school students, especially students from Grades 1 to 5, MoE launched a short film titled Forgetting a Child on the Bus.

The two-minute film addresses students, drawing their attention to a situation of being left behind in a school bus. ‘If you slept on the bus and didn’t get off with your friends to go to school, you have to open the windows, press the bus horn constantly, and try to open the door,’ it advises students.