Private School Transport: Safety, Licensing and Oversight Under Scrutiny
last updated: 27m ago
Amman – Despite regulations establishing licensing requirements for school transport and distributing responsibilities among the relevant authorities, the Ministry of Education does not have national figures on the number of students relying on privately operated minibuses or the total number of these vehicles.اضافة اعلان
While the government has launched a pilot school transportation programme in 61 schools, questions remain about the scale of reliance on private transport, compliance with safety requirements and the gap that the government’s alternative is expected to address.
Every school morning, students leave their homes and travel to school in minibuses that have become an essential means of transportation for families unable to find suitable alternatives in their areas. Some journeys last only a few minutes, but they place children under the responsibility of a driver and a vehicle that are expected to meet safety standards and operate under proper licensing and oversight.
The issue is not simply the existence of minibuses transporting students. It concerns whether their use is legal, whether they meet safety requirements and whether they have sufficient passenger capacity. The more important question, however, is whether the relevant authorities understand the scale of this phenomenon well enough to determine the need for school transport, assess the effectiveness of oversight and provide families with a safe alternative.
The investigation reveals a discrepancy between national legislation governing student transportation and conditions on the ground. Regulations establish clear licensing and monitoring procedures and distribute responsibilities among the Land Transport Regulatory Commission, the Ministry of Education and security authorities. However, officials' statements reveal an information gap: the Ministry of Education does not have accurate national figures measuring the scale of the problem, the number of students relying on private transport or the number of vehicles actually operating in this sector.
Meanwhile, the Land Transport Regulatory Commission says it has licensed 2,516 vehicles through 27 offices in four governorates: Amman, Balqa, Zarqa and Irbid. However, this figure does not represent a comprehensive count of all vehicles actually transporting students, nor does it reveal how many operate outside the permit system or the level of demand for the service in the remaining governorates.
This highlights the central contradiction: legislation regulates student transportation and defines the responsibilities of the relevant authorities, yet there is no comprehensive national picture of reliance on private minibuses, the adequacy of licensed services or the availability of government alternatives.
Regulations Define Responsibilities, but Where Is the Implementation Data?
Jordanian legislation does not leave student transportation for payment unregulated. The 2018 Regulation on Licensing Providers of School and Kindergarten Transportation Services and Their Employees established a framework for licensing offices, service providers and vehicles used for this activity.
Article 3 of the regulation prohibits the provision of school and kindergarten transportation services without obtaining the required licence and permit in accordance with the regulation and the instructions issued under it. This means that holding a valid vehicle registration licence alone is insufficient to establish that a vehicle is legally authorised to transport students for payment. The specific service permit and compliance with its requirements must also be verified.
Article 4 outlines the responsibilities of the Land Transport Regulatory Commission, including regulating the provision of the service, setting vehicle specifications, issuing permits, monitoring and inspecting offices and service providers, and taking the necessary measures when the regulation is violated.
The same article defines the role of the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development, which is required to coordinate with the commission to determine the need for school transportation. This is done through a committee established at each school, chaired by the school principal and including the educational supervisor and a parents' representative.
The committee is responsible for coordinating with the commission to meet transportation needs and submitting reports on violations, inspections and documents requested by the commission to regulate the activity.
Accordingly, the regulation does not make the Ministry of Education directly responsible for licensing every private school bus. Instead, it gives the ministry a role in identifying transportation needs and coordinating the service, while the Land Transport Regulatory Commission handles licensing, permits and oversight of service providers.
However, the existence of these responsibilities in legislation does not answer the question of implementation: Do the relevant authorities have sufficient information to determine how many students need transportation, where they are located, how many vehicles serve them and how many vehicles provide the service without the required permits?
Dr. Muhannad Al-Khatib, Director of the Media and Communications Unit at the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development, said in response to Al Ghad's inquiries that the ministry does not have accurate data or estimates of the total number of students relying on private minibuses, or the total number of such vehicles nationwide.
This response does not establish that all government authorities lack such data. However, it reveals that the ministry does not have a comprehensive national picture of the extent of reliance on this mode of transport, despite its role in coordinating the identification of school transportation needs.
Without unified data, it becomes difficult to measure the gap between the number of students requiring transportation and the capacity of licensed services, or to identify the areas most in need of government intervention.
2,516 Licensed Vehicles: A Figure That Does Not Reveal the Full Scale
The Land Transport Regulatory Commission, through its spokesperson and Director of the Media and Communications Unit, Dr. Abla Al-Washah, said that the number of licensed vehicles had reached 2,516 at the time of its response. These vehicles operate through 27 offices in Amman, Balqa, Zarqa and Irbid.
The figure represents the number of vehicles reported by the commission within its licensing framework. However, it does not reveal how many vehicles actually transport students across Jordan, nor does it allow for a comparison between licensed service capacity and actual demand.
It also does not clarify the extent to which licensed vehicles comply with their requirements during operation, how many vehicles transport students without the required permits, or how many violations have been recorded against service providers and drivers over a specified period.
Article 7 of the 2018 regulation defines school transport vehicle categories according to passenger capacity. It stipulates that a vehicle's model year must be no more than five years old when first registered. It also sets the operational lifespan at 15 years from the year of manufacture for passenger cars and 20 years for medium-sized buses. Detailed technical specifications are determined by the regulation and the instructions issued under it.
Article 6 sets out requirements for school transport service providers, including Jordanian nationality for individuals, compliance with the age requirement specified in the regulation, good conduct, possession of a driving licence authorising the person to operate the relevant vehicle category, medical fitness and completion of public safety and student-handling training courses.
These requirements are not minor administrative details. They establish the minimum standards that must be met before a vehicle becomes responsible for transporting children on a daily basis. However, the existence of these requirements in the regulation does not, by itself, prove compliance on the ground.
Assessing the effectiveness of oversight requires data on valid permits, vehicles inspected, violations detected, their nature and the measures taken in response. Publishing such information regularly would make it possible to assess the results of monitoring rather than simply confirming that oversight exists.
Vehicle Registration Does Not Authorise School Transport
The distinction between registering a vehicle and obtaining authorisation to use it for paid student transportation has been highlighted by previous accidents and violations.
In April 2018, a minibus carrying female students overturned in the Jwa area south of Amman, resulting in the death of one student and injuries to six others and the driver, according to media reports citing information from the Traffic Department.
According to those reports, the vehicle was registered for road use and the driver held a driving licence, but the bus was transporting students for payment. The reports said the accident was linked to failure to comply with a stop sign.
The incident illustrates the importance of distinguishing between vehicle registration, the driver's licence and the permit required to provide school transportation services. Possession of the first two documents does not, on its own, establish that using the vehicle to transport students for payment meets all applicable requirements.
In September 2026, media outlets reported that authorities had seized a bus transporting students after detecting that it lacked basic public safety requirements and had expired vehicle registration, according to coverage citing Public Security Directorate information. Legal action was taken against the driver.
This incident alone is insufficient to determine the scale of non-compliant vehicles across the Kingdom. However, it highlights that oversight is not limited to checking whether a school transport permit exists. It also involves verifying the legality and safety of the vehicle and its compliance with traffic regulations.
The Land Transport Regulatory Commission says the Traffic Department issues violations when buses transporting students are caught breaking the rules, and that field teams from several authorities participate in monitoring these vehicles.
However, the available responses do not provide a detailed national record of violations, broken down by type, governorate and year.
Such data is essential to determine whether violations are isolated incidents or reflect recurring patterns involving vehicle use, passenger overloading or failure to comply with service requirements.
Public Security Directorate: “Not Within Our Jurisdiction” – Where Does Responsibility Begin and End?
When asked about the Public Security Directorate's responsibility regarding minibuses transporting students, spokesperson Amer Al-Sartawi said that the matter was “not within our jurisdiction.” According to the information available to the newspaper, no written response was received clarifying the scope of this position or precisely which aspects of the issue fall outside its jurisdiction.
The response raises questions about the limits of the Public Security Directorate's responsibilities in student transportation, particularly in light of documented cases in which the Traffic Department intervened to seize non-compliant buses. This makes it necessary to distinguish between responsibility for licensing school transport services and enforcement of related traffic violations.
The regulation governing school transport service providers grants the Land Transport Regulatory Commission specific powers over licensing, permits and monitoring service providers. Traffic violations and road accidents, meanwhile, are governed by the Traffic Law and related legislation, within the responsibilities of the authorities tasked with enforcing them.
Therefore, the legislation governing school transport licensing does not establish that the Public Security Directorate is responsible for every aspect of licensing. Equally, the statement that the issue is “not within our jurisdiction” does not clarify whether this refers to licensing the service, enforcing related traffic violations or investigating accidents involving vehicles transporting students.
The reported incidents do not establish that the Public Security Directorate is responsible for every aspect of school transport regulation. However, they highlight the need to clarify the division of responsibilities and coordination mechanisms among the relevant authorities so that families are not left facing uncertainty.
The question is not simply which authority licenses the bus. It is also who intervenes when a vehicle transporting students is found operating under unsafe or illegal conditions, who investigates accidents and how information is shared among the authorities concerned.
Child Dies Inside Bus: Safety Must Be Ensured Before and After Every Journey
On September 3, 2026, five-year-old Elias died after being found inside a private student transport bus in Zarqa. Media reports said the child had remained inside the vehicle after the journey ended, after the driver reportedly forgot him and locked the bus. His father, Mohammad, also spoke to media outlets about his intention to pursue legal action.
The final responsibility in this incident should not be considered established before the investigation and judicial proceedings are completed. However, the tragedy once again raised questions about the procedures needed to prevent children from being left inside vehicles after journeys end, and whether measures to ensure that buses are completely empty of students are being followed.
The requirements and obligations outlined by the Land Transport Regulatory Commission include procedures for inspecting vehicles and ensuring that no students remain inside at the end of a journey, in addition to safety rules governing driving, boarding and drop-off.
These obligations are particularly important because school transport safety is not limited to the condition of the vehicle or its speed. It also includes operational procedures before and after each journey and ensuring that students arrive and leave the vehicle safely.
Previous media reports have highlighted other risks associated with school transportation, including traffic accidents and complaints about overcrowding in some minibuses.
However, combining these incidents into a single numerical record requires verification of the original case files, determining whether the vehicles were providing paid school transport services, whether they were licensed for that purpose and what the investigations ultimately concluded.
The information obtained by Al Ghad does not include a unified national record linking school transport accidents to vehicle type, permit status, passenger numbers and the findings of investigations into each incident.
This does not prove that such information is unavailable across all authorities. It does mean, however, that the newspaper was unable to obtain a database that would allow the scale of the problem to be accurately measured.
Government Pilot in 61 Schools: What About the Rest of the Kingdom?
In response to the need for school transportation, the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development is working to develop a government-run transportation model.
Dr. Muhannad Al-Khatib, Director of the ministry's Media and Communications Unit, said the project began in 2018 in cooperation with a donor organisation and continued until the end of 2022 without the model being developed. Work resumed in early 2025 in cooperation with the Land Transport Regulatory Commission and the Partnership Projects Unit at the Ministry of Investment.
During 2025, the ministry conducted a field survey and launched an online questionnaire in schools in the Southern Badia and Aqaba. The aim was to identify the willingness of students and educational staff to use government transportation and determine which modes of transport they were using at the time.
According to the ministry, the pilot phase began during the 2026/2027 academic year in 61 public schools in the Southern Badia and Aqaba. Approximately 9,938 people, including students and educational staff, are benefiting from the service through 110 operational buses and 10 reserve buses.
The programme represents a practical step towards providing government transportation. However, it does not yet constitute nationwide coverage.
The ministry also says it does not have data on the means of transportation each student used before the service was launched. This limits its ability to determine how many beneficiaries switched from private minibuses to the government system.
The ministry explained that the targeted areas were selected based on survey results and geographical challenges, with priority given to schools with more than 200 students.
Expansion into other areas will depend on the results of technical and financial assessments, with no specific timetable for nationwide implementation provided at the time of the response.
These figures indicate that the programme has moved into the implementation stage, but the scale of demand across the Kingdom remains unclear based on the information obtained by Al Ghad.
There are no national figures showing how many students rely on private transportation, which areas should receive priority intervention or the gap between demand for transport and the capacity of available services.
To make the pilot programme's performance measurable, it is important to publish its results after the trial phase, including the number of students benefiting, operating costs, service reliability, geographical coverage and its impact on demand for other transportation options.
Linking the programme's results with school records and data held by transport regulators could also help establish expansion priorities based on actual needs.
Transportation Needs Do Not Eliminate Safety Requirements
The spread of minibuses transporting public school students cannot be separated from families' need for a means of getting their children to school.
Previous media reports have covered complaints from families about the lack of suitable alternatives in some areas and their resulting reliance on small vehicles. Other reports have highlighted problems involving overcrowding and transportation costs.
However, the need for a service does not exempt its provider from licensing and safety requirements. Likewise, the existence of a licensing system does not eliminate the need for an accessible and practical alternative.
Addressing the problem cannot be limited to seizing a non-compliant vehicle if demand for transportation remains unmet and families have no suitable options. Nor is announcing a government pilot project sufficient if there is no data showing where students need the service most.
The 2018 regulation assigns the Land Transport Regulatory Commission responsibility for licensing, issuing permits and monitoring service providers. It also gives the Ministry of Education a coordination role in identifying needs and submitting reports on violations.
Traffic violations and accidents, meanwhile, are governed by the relevant legal framework according to the nature of each incident and the jurisdiction of the responsible authority.
The task, therefore, is not to identify a single authority responsible for every aspect of the problem, but to understand how these responsibilities work together.
Do school reports reach the Land Transport Regulatory Commission? Are they followed by inspections and field monitoring? Is information about violations and enforcement measures publicly available? And does government transportation provide an alternative for students who lack access to suitable services?
Who Transports Students, and Who Knows the Scale of the Need?
To investigate the issue, Al Ghad examined accidents and violations related to student transportation, reviewed the legislation governing the sector and contacted the relevant official authorities to obtain answers about licensing requirements, the division of responsibilities and the number of vehicles and students relying on the service.
The investigation included reviewing and examining official responses and comparing the provisions of the legislation with the available data, in an effort to provide a clearer picture of school transportation for public school students.
Legislation alone is not enough to guarantee student safety. Nor is seizing a non-compliant bus or licensing a vehicle sufficient to prove that the transportation system is operating effectively.
Responsibility begins with identifying how many students need the service, documenting the vehicles providing it and monitoring their compliance with safety requirements. It also involves providing a government alternative that covers areas where suitable transportation options are lacking.
While families bear the cost of transportation and the daily anxiety of the journey, government authorities remain responsible for turning legal provisions into a system that can be measured and held accountable.
Access to school should not remain a burden that every family must shoulder alone, or a daily gamble in which children's safety depends on fragmented transportation arrangements.
Source: Al Ghad Newspaper
While the government has launched a pilot school transportation programme in 61 schools, questions remain about the scale of reliance on private transport, compliance with safety requirements and the gap that the government’s alternative is expected to address.
Every school morning, students leave their homes and travel to school in minibuses that have become an essential means of transportation for families unable to find suitable alternatives in their areas. Some journeys last only a few minutes, but they place children under the responsibility of a driver and a vehicle that are expected to meet safety standards and operate under proper licensing and oversight.
The issue is not simply the existence of minibuses transporting students. It concerns whether their use is legal, whether they meet safety requirements and whether they have sufficient passenger capacity. The more important question, however, is whether the relevant authorities understand the scale of this phenomenon well enough to determine the need for school transport, assess the effectiveness of oversight and provide families with a safe alternative.
The investigation reveals a discrepancy between national legislation governing student transportation and conditions on the ground. Regulations establish clear licensing and monitoring procedures and distribute responsibilities among the Land Transport Regulatory Commission, the Ministry of Education and security authorities. However, officials' statements reveal an information gap: the Ministry of Education does not have accurate national figures measuring the scale of the problem, the number of students relying on private transport or the number of vehicles actually operating in this sector.
Meanwhile, the Land Transport Regulatory Commission says it has licensed 2,516 vehicles through 27 offices in four governorates: Amman, Balqa, Zarqa and Irbid. However, this figure does not represent a comprehensive count of all vehicles actually transporting students, nor does it reveal how many operate outside the permit system or the level of demand for the service in the remaining governorates.
This highlights the central contradiction: legislation regulates student transportation and defines the responsibilities of the relevant authorities, yet there is no comprehensive national picture of reliance on private minibuses, the adequacy of licensed services or the availability of government alternatives.
Regulations Define Responsibilities, but Where Is the Implementation Data?
Jordanian legislation does not leave student transportation for payment unregulated. The 2018 Regulation on Licensing Providers of School and Kindergarten Transportation Services and Their Employees established a framework for licensing offices, service providers and vehicles used for this activity.
Article 3 of the regulation prohibits the provision of school and kindergarten transportation services without obtaining the required licence and permit in accordance with the regulation and the instructions issued under it. This means that holding a valid vehicle registration licence alone is insufficient to establish that a vehicle is legally authorised to transport students for payment. The specific service permit and compliance with its requirements must also be verified.
Article 4 outlines the responsibilities of the Land Transport Regulatory Commission, including regulating the provision of the service, setting vehicle specifications, issuing permits, monitoring and inspecting offices and service providers, and taking the necessary measures when the regulation is violated.
The same article defines the role of the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development, which is required to coordinate with the commission to determine the need for school transportation. This is done through a committee established at each school, chaired by the school principal and including the educational supervisor and a parents' representative.
The committee is responsible for coordinating with the commission to meet transportation needs and submitting reports on violations, inspections and documents requested by the commission to regulate the activity.
Accordingly, the regulation does not make the Ministry of Education directly responsible for licensing every private school bus. Instead, it gives the ministry a role in identifying transportation needs and coordinating the service, while the Land Transport Regulatory Commission handles licensing, permits and oversight of service providers.
However, the existence of these responsibilities in legislation does not answer the question of implementation: Do the relevant authorities have sufficient information to determine how many students need transportation, where they are located, how many vehicles serve them and how many vehicles provide the service without the required permits?
Dr. Muhannad Al-Khatib, Director of the Media and Communications Unit at the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development, said in response to Al Ghad's inquiries that the ministry does not have accurate data or estimates of the total number of students relying on private minibuses, or the total number of such vehicles nationwide.
This response does not establish that all government authorities lack such data. However, it reveals that the ministry does not have a comprehensive national picture of the extent of reliance on this mode of transport, despite its role in coordinating the identification of school transportation needs.
Without unified data, it becomes difficult to measure the gap between the number of students requiring transportation and the capacity of licensed services, or to identify the areas most in need of government intervention.
2,516 Licensed Vehicles: A Figure That Does Not Reveal the Full Scale
The Land Transport Regulatory Commission, through its spokesperson and Director of the Media and Communications Unit, Dr. Abla Al-Washah, said that the number of licensed vehicles had reached 2,516 at the time of its response. These vehicles operate through 27 offices in Amman, Balqa, Zarqa and Irbid.
The figure represents the number of vehicles reported by the commission within its licensing framework. However, it does not reveal how many vehicles actually transport students across Jordan, nor does it allow for a comparison between licensed service capacity and actual demand.
It also does not clarify the extent to which licensed vehicles comply with their requirements during operation, how many vehicles transport students without the required permits, or how many violations have been recorded against service providers and drivers over a specified period.
Article 7 of the 2018 regulation defines school transport vehicle categories according to passenger capacity. It stipulates that a vehicle's model year must be no more than five years old when first registered. It also sets the operational lifespan at 15 years from the year of manufacture for passenger cars and 20 years for medium-sized buses. Detailed technical specifications are determined by the regulation and the instructions issued under it.
Article 6 sets out requirements for school transport service providers, including Jordanian nationality for individuals, compliance with the age requirement specified in the regulation, good conduct, possession of a driving licence authorising the person to operate the relevant vehicle category, medical fitness and completion of public safety and student-handling training courses.
These requirements are not minor administrative details. They establish the minimum standards that must be met before a vehicle becomes responsible for transporting children on a daily basis. However, the existence of these requirements in the regulation does not, by itself, prove compliance on the ground.
Assessing the effectiveness of oversight requires data on valid permits, vehicles inspected, violations detected, their nature and the measures taken in response. Publishing such information regularly would make it possible to assess the results of monitoring rather than simply confirming that oversight exists.
Vehicle Registration Does Not Authorise School Transport
The distinction between registering a vehicle and obtaining authorisation to use it for paid student transportation has been highlighted by previous accidents and violations.
In April 2018, a minibus carrying female students overturned in the Jwa area south of Amman, resulting in the death of one student and injuries to six others and the driver, according to media reports citing information from the Traffic Department.
According to those reports, the vehicle was registered for road use and the driver held a driving licence, but the bus was transporting students for payment. The reports said the accident was linked to failure to comply with a stop sign.
The incident illustrates the importance of distinguishing between vehicle registration, the driver's licence and the permit required to provide school transportation services. Possession of the first two documents does not, on its own, establish that using the vehicle to transport students for payment meets all applicable requirements.
In September 2026, media outlets reported that authorities had seized a bus transporting students after detecting that it lacked basic public safety requirements and had expired vehicle registration, according to coverage citing Public Security Directorate information. Legal action was taken against the driver.
This incident alone is insufficient to determine the scale of non-compliant vehicles across the Kingdom. However, it highlights that oversight is not limited to checking whether a school transport permit exists. It also involves verifying the legality and safety of the vehicle and its compliance with traffic regulations.
The Land Transport Regulatory Commission says the Traffic Department issues violations when buses transporting students are caught breaking the rules, and that field teams from several authorities participate in monitoring these vehicles.
However, the available responses do not provide a detailed national record of violations, broken down by type, governorate and year.
Such data is essential to determine whether violations are isolated incidents or reflect recurring patterns involving vehicle use, passenger overloading or failure to comply with service requirements.
Public Security Directorate: “Not Within Our Jurisdiction” – Where Does Responsibility Begin and End?
When asked about the Public Security Directorate's responsibility regarding minibuses transporting students, spokesperson Amer Al-Sartawi said that the matter was “not within our jurisdiction.” According to the information available to the newspaper, no written response was received clarifying the scope of this position or precisely which aspects of the issue fall outside its jurisdiction.
The response raises questions about the limits of the Public Security Directorate's responsibilities in student transportation, particularly in light of documented cases in which the Traffic Department intervened to seize non-compliant buses. This makes it necessary to distinguish between responsibility for licensing school transport services and enforcement of related traffic violations.
The regulation governing school transport service providers grants the Land Transport Regulatory Commission specific powers over licensing, permits and monitoring service providers. Traffic violations and road accidents, meanwhile, are governed by the Traffic Law and related legislation, within the responsibilities of the authorities tasked with enforcing them.
Therefore, the legislation governing school transport licensing does not establish that the Public Security Directorate is responsible for every aspect of licensing. Equally, the statement that the issue is “not within our jurisdiction” does not clarify whether this refers to licensing the service, enforcing related traffic violations or investigating accidents involving vehicles transporting students.
The reported incidents do not establish that the Public Security Directorate is responsible for every aspect of school transport regulation. However, they highlight the need to clarify the division of responsibilities and coordination mechanisms among the relevant authorities so that families are not left facing uncertainty.
The question is not simply which authority licenses the bus. It is also who intervenes when a vehicle transporting students is found operating under unsafe or illegal conditions, who investigates accidents and how information is shared among the authorities concerned.
Child Dies Inside Bus: Safety Must Be Ensured Before and After Every Journey
On September 3, 2026, five-year-old Elias died after being found inside a private student transport bus in Zarqa. Media reports said the child had remained inside the vehicle after the journey ended, after the driver reportedly forgot him and locked the bus. His father, Mohammad, also spoke to media outlets about his intention to pursue legal action.
The final responsibility in this incident should not be considered established before the investigation and judicial proceedings are completed. However, the tragedy once again raised questions about the procedures needed to prevent children from being left inside vehicles after journeys end, and whether measures to ensure that buses are completely empty of students are being followed.
The requirements and obligations outlined by the Land Transport Regulatory Commission include procedures for inspecting vehicles and ensuring that no students remain inside at the end of a journey, in addition to safety rules governing driving, boarding and drop-off.
These obligations are particularly important because school transport safety is not limited to the condition of the vehicle or its speed. It also includes operational procedures before and after each journey and ensuring that students arrive and leave the vehicle safely.
Previous media reports have highlighted other risks associated with school transportation, including traffic accidents and complaints about overcrowding in some minibuses.
However, combining these incidents into a single numerical record requires verification of the original case files, determining whether the vehicles were providing paid school transport services, whether they were licensed for that purpose and what the investigations ultimately concluded.
The information obtained by Al Ghad does not include a unified national record linking school transport accidents to vehicle type, permit status, passenger numbers and the findings of investigations into each incident.
This does not prove that such information is unavailable across all authorities. It does mean, however, that the newspaper was unable to obtain a database that would allow the scale of the problem to be accurately measured.
Government Pilot in 61 Schools: What About the Rest of the Kingdom?
In response to the need for school transportation, the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development is working to develop a government-run transportation model.
Dr. Muhannad Al-Khatib, Director of the ministry's Media and Communications Unit, said the project began in 2018 in cooperation with a donor organisation and continued until the end of 2022 without the model being developed. Work resumed in early 2025 in cooperation with the Land Transport Regulatory Commission and the Partnership Projects Unit at the Ministry of Investment.
During 2025, the ministry conducted a field survey and launched an online questionnaire in schools in the Southern Badia and Aqaba. The aim was to identify the willingness of students and educational staff to use government transportation and determine which modes of transport they were using at the time.
According to the ministry, the pilot phase began during the 2026/2027 academic year in 61 public schools in the Southern Badia and Aqaba. Approximately 9,938 people, including students and educational staff, are benefiting from the service through 110 operational buses and 10 reserve buses.
The programme represents a practical step towards providing government transportation. However, it does not yet constitute nationwide coverage.
The ministry also says it does not have data on the means of transportation each student used before the service was launched. This limits its ability to determine how many beneficiaries switched from private minibuses to the government system.
The ministry explained that the targeted areas were selected based on survey results and geographical challenges, with priority given to schools with more than 200 students.
Expansion into other areas will depend on the results of technical and financial assessments, with no specific timetable for nationwide implementation provided at the time of the response.
These figures indicate that the programme has moved into the implementation stage, but the scale of demand across the Kingdom remains unclear based on the information obtained by Al Ghad.
There are no national figures showing how many students rely on private transportation, which areas should receive priority intervention or the gap between demand for transport and the capacity of available services.
To make the pilot programme's performance measurable, it is important to publish its results after the trial phase, including the number of students benefiting, operating costs, service reliability, geographical coverage and its impact on demand for other transportation options.
Linking the programme's results with school records and data held by transport regulators could also help establish expansion priorities based on actual needs.
Transportation Needs Do Not Eliminate Safety Requirements
The spread of minibuses transporting public school students cannot be separated from families' need for a means of getting their children to school.
Previous media reports have covered complaints from families about the lack of suitable alternatives in some areas and their resulting reliance on small vehicles. Other reports have highlighted problems involving overcrowding and transportation costs.
However, the need for a service does not exempt its provider from licensing and safety requirements. Likewise, the existence of a licensing system does not eliminate the need for an accessible and practical alternative.
Addressing the problem cannot be limited to seizing a non-compliant vehicle if demand for transportation remains unmet and families have no suitable options. Nor is announcing a government pilot project sufficient if there is no data showing where students need the service most.
The 2018 regulation assigns the Land Transport Regulatory Commission responsibility for licensing, issuing permits and monitoring service providers. It also gives the Ministry of Education a coordination role in identifying needs and submitting reports on violations.
Traffic violations and accidents, meanwhile, are governed by the relevant legal framework according to the nature of each incident and the jurisdiction of the responsible authority.
The task, therefore, is not to identify a single authority responsible for every aspect of the problem, but to understand how these responsibilities work together.
Do school reports reach the Land Transport Regulatory Commission? Are they followed by inspections and field monitoring? Is information about violations and enforcement measures publicly available? And does government transportation provide an alternative for students who lack access to suitable services?
Who Transports Students, and Who Knows the Scale of the Need?
To investigate the issue, Al Ghad examined accidents and violations related to student transportation, reviewed the legislation governing the sector and contacted the relevant official authorities to obtain answers about licensing requirements, the division of responsibilities and the number of vehicles and students relying on the service.
The investigation included reviewing and examining official responses and comparing the provisions of the legislation with the available data, in an effort to provide a clearer picture of school transportation for public school students.
Legislation alone is not enough to guarantee student safety. Nor is seizing a non-compliant bus or licensing a vehicle sufficient to prove that the transportation system is operating effectively.
Responsibility begins with identifying how many students need the service, documenting the vehicles providing it and monitoring their compliance with safety requirements. It also involves providing a government alternative that covers areas where suitable transportation options are lacking.
While families bear the cost of transportation and the daily anxiety of the journey, government authorities remain responsible for turning legal provisions into a system that can be measured and held accountable.
Access to school should not remain a burden that every family must shoulder alone, or a daily gamble in which children's safety depends on fragmented transportation arrangements.
Source: Al Ghad Newspaper
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