KUWAIT: With over 682,000 students enrolled in Kuwait’s public and private schools as of the 2021/2022 academic year, daily transportation has become a significant challenge. The traditional system—where parents or stay-at-home chauffeurs handle drop-offs and pickups—is increasingly unfeasible due to changes in lifestyle, housing arrangements, traffic, and school locations. These pressures have made it clear: alternative transportation solutions are urgently needed.

A major obstacle to the traditional model is the lack of accommodation for stay-at-home drivers. With many families moving from houses to apartments, space for live-in chauffeurs is often unavailable. “I live in an apartment, and I simply don’t have room to accommodate a driver,” said Abdullah, the father of a four-year-old. “Fortunately, I can rely on the driver at my father’s house, but that’s not an option for everyone.” This has led parents to explore alternatives, primarily school buses and hired taxi services. While both options exist, school buses are the more widely discussed solution.

School busing has been under discussion in Kuwait since the 1960s. In 2023, the ministry of education awarded a KD 30 million contract to provide school bus services for public schools, allocating 1,696 buses for the 2024/2025 academic year. Assuming each bus carries 50 students, this would accommodate about 12 percent of total students at best. However, many parents remain hesitant about school buses due to concerns over lack of oversight and regulation, safety, extended commute times, fees and affordability, and cleanliness and comfort issues, among others.

“Part of what drives this hesitation is fear or anxiety about the unknown or uncontrollable,” one parent explained. “When I take my kids to school myself or use my own driver, I know the vehicle’s condition, who is in the car, and what the journey will be like. With a school bus, there could be disruptive students, cleanliness concerns, or temperature issues that affect my child’s comfort.”

The UAE has led the way in implementing high safety and regulatory standards for school transportation. In 2022, nearly 241,000 students commuted via 7,217 buses across both public and private schools. The UAE’s system ensures parental confidence by providing real-time tracking, strict regulations and high safety standards. Such a structured approach has encouraged many parents to adopt school busing, offering them flexibility to focus on their careers and eliminating the stress of early school pickups and parking challenges.

An unexpected catalyst for school busing adoption in Kuwait has been the introduction of the third fingerprint attendance system for government employees. This policy has made it increasingly difficult for parents to personally transport their children to and from school. “We have seen a jump in demand, especially after the introduction of the third fingerprint,” said Hasan Akbar, a full-time school bus operator of six years.

For more parents to take school busing seriously, there must be clear and consistent regulations. Currently, most agreements between bus operators and schools operate on a trust-based system, creating inconsistencies in service. “People want a consistent driver they trust, and the same goes for the supervisor,” Akbar explained. “Right now, most bus operators work independently, and there is little oversight, which has skewed the market.”

To improve confidence in school busing, Akbar emphasized the need for increased regulation and oversight from multiple entities. “Ideally, for parents to consider school busing a viable option, there must be more regulation from the ministry of interior, ministry of education and the Public Authority for Roads and Transportation.”