Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — About 500 women students of Shaqra University's Quwaiyya and Dawadmi branches have been suffering due to the long commute they have to make daily to the campuses from their residences.

The students live in Al-Ruwaida, a township 100 km away from Dawadmi and 66 km away from Quwaiya.

Many students have told Al-Hayat newspaper that they prefer to discontinue their university education because the hardships of transportation.

The students blame the head of the regional center for their suffering. They say he is against the idea of establishing a women's college in the area, fearing for the future of his job.

He has been creating obstacles before the implementation of a plan to establish a branch of Shaqra University in Al-Ruwaida for the past three years, they said.

Nora Al-Otaibi, a college student, said, "I suffer a lot because of the long trip from my residence in Al-Ruwaida to the university in Quwaiyya. I have to leave the house early in the morning and I do not get back until late in the afternoon."

She added they also suffered due to the heavy traffic on the road, which is packed with heavy-duty vehicles.

She said her bus encountered many issues, including burst tires, almost daily, which make the bus driver to seek the help another driver to transport the students.

"Overcrowding is yet another problem we struggle with every day. Our bus has only 13 seats, but it has to carry 18 students, so overcrowding is unavoidable. The air-conditioning in the bus does not function, and the heat is unbearable. We have witnessed many deadly accidents on the road, which is packed with heavy-duty vehicles," Al-Otaibi said.

She added: "Our parents are constantly worried and they check on us until we reach home safely."

Al-Otaibi said the students spent huge amounts on transport despite the perennial lack of safety and comfort.

The majority of the drivers are elderly people, who cannot take control in the event of any mishap on the way, she claimed.

Al-Otaibi said hundreds of her fellow students from neighboring villages and towns suffer from the same plight. "All of them leave their home early in the morning, commute hundreds of kilometers in order to seek knowledge and do not return until late in the afternoon," she said.

Al-Otaibi asked: "Why do we not have a girl's college in Al-Ruwaida to end the everyday suffering of these students? We urgently need to establish an independent college in the city. Promises have been made previously but no action was taken on formal recommendations to open a women's college in Al-Ruwaida."

Another student, who preferred to remain anonymous, has said she leaves her home in one of the remote towns near Al-Ruwaida at dawn prayer to get to her university in Dawadmi.

"I travel half a day every day. I pray that the decision-makers are able to put an end to this suffering by setting up an institution nearby to relieve us of the hardship of the daily commute," she said.

Al-Hayat newspaper repeatedly tried to communicate with the head of teh Al-Ruwaida center through his mobile phone, but he did not respond.