Abu Dhabi Education Council Orders School Closure By 2015 After Girl’s Death

The Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) has issued an administrative resolution closing down a private school in the emirate following the death of a four-year-old pupil, Nizaha Aalaa, who was left inside the school bus.

ADEC will revoke its operating license for the Al Worood Academy Private School with effect from August 31, 2015 for grave negligence in measures regarding safety and security of students, official news agency WAM reported.

The council took the action based on Article 83 of the private school regulations, it said.

The school will also fall “under ADEC’s financial and administrative supervision” until the end of academic year 2014-2015.

It is also required to fully cooperate with the ADEC or any person or entity that represents it for running the school affairs until the date of closure, the report added.

The KG 1 school girl died earlier this month when she had fallen asleep inside a bus and was left alone for several hours.

All suspects in the case are will stand trial today, WAM reported.

The public prosecutor has accused the bus driver and bus attendant of failing to do their job properly, while the school employee tasked with checking the attendance of students has been suspected of negligence.

The school management and the school transport provider have also been charged with “endangering the lives of students” since they deployed an unlicensed bus that did not fulfill school transportation safety requirements and employed unqualified and unlicensed supervisors, WAM said.

The owner of the transport company is also facing charges for hiring 10 bus attendants who did not meet sponsorship transfer terms and conditions.

The report quoted Attorney-General of Abu Dhabi Ali Mohammed Abdullah Al Balushi as saying that the forensic report had showed that excessive heat exhaustion and inability to breathe caused the child’s death.

He stressed that “justice will be served to ease the suffering of the distressed family that has lost its loving child in this painful way.”

WAM also quoted a source at the Attorney General’s Office as saying that the driver confessed that he didn’t check inside the bus after he parked it and found the child lying dead at the end of the KG1 school day at 11:40 am. He denied the charge of negligence.

The school principal also reportedly admitted that the buses used by the transport company were not licensed by the Department of Transport to transport students and that seven buses were not up to the mark.

He revealed that no official from the school transport authority had come to inspect the roadworthiness of the buses, WAM added.