“Abu Dhabi Appeal”: The death of the girl “Naziha” inside her school bus is not an isolated accident

Final ruling to close Al-Word School

  • The school’s violations constituted a major breach of security and safety requirements, and one of the results of which was the death of the girl “Naziha”.

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  • The “school” contracted with an unlicensed transportation company to transport students.

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The Abu Dhabi Administrative Court of Cassation upheld the decision of the Abu Dhabi Education Council to close the Al Warood Academy School, against the background of the death of a schoolgirl, as a result of her forgetfulness in the school bus, after she was transferred from her parents’ home to the school.

The court considered that the death of the girl Naziha was not an isolated accident, but rather resulted from a major defect in security, safety and health requirements in a way that endangers the lives and safety of students.

The law sets specific standards for school bus drivers, and stresses the need for a supervisor to ensure the safety of students’ arrival.

Article 83 of the Private Schools Regulations gives the council the right to cancel the school's license, when there is a defect in the safety requirements.

The school did not check the student list

Reports confirmed that the girl, Naziha, fought death from 7 to 12 in the afternoon, when it was found that she ate the food in her lunch bag, and drank the whole bottle of water.

When she was found at the end of school hours, she had died at least two hours ago, in a stiff position, while she was sticking her face to the bus door with her hand in the position of trying to hit the door.

Investigations showed that the school did not check the statements of students who boarded the bus, and did not send text messages to the families of students who were absent from school, according to the laws.

The school administration justified its negligence by saying that the number of absentees on that day was about 1,500 students, while the bus supervisor, who turned out to be a cleaner, confirmed that the administration never looked at the bus lists, and on the day of the accident, she asked for detection only after discovering the girl’s body.

The council had formed a committee to investigate the incident, which recommended closing the school and placing it under the council's administrative and financial supervision until the closure is completed.

The council also rejected a grievance request against the decision submitted by the school, and consequently the school filed a lawsuit before the Abu Dhabi Administrative Court, demanding the annulment of the decision, which it described as violating the provisions of the private schools’ regulation, considering the death incident as an individual case.

For its part, the council demanded in its memorandum before the court that the case be dismissed, stressing that the decision resulted from a serious violation committed by the school, which led to an honest life.

The Court of First Instance ruled to reject the case, so the school appealed the ruling before the Court of Appeal, which overturned the initial ruling, and decided to cancel the closure decision and its consequences.

The Council was not satisfied with the verdict, so it appealed to the Court of Cassation, which returned the case to the Court of Appeal, and the Referral Court also ruled to cancel the closure decision, so the Council again appealed the ruling before the Court of Cassation.

In his memo, he emphasized that Article 83 of the Private Schools Regulations gives him the right to immediately cancel the school's license, without submitting to escalation procedures, when there is a major defect in security, safety and health requirements that endangers students' lives and safety.

And that his decision was not due to the death accident, but rather because the school violated the requirements of security and safety, as it had contracted with an unlicensed transport company to transport students, and employed an untrained bus supervisor, who was not qualified for this task.

She is registered in the labor card as a cleaner, and the driver is not qualified to drive a school bus, and does not have a permit, in addition to the bus's lack of conditions set by the Council, including the absence of a camera inside it, or tracking and monitoring devices, indicating that these violations constitute a major breach of the requirements Security and safety, and one of the results was the death of the girl.

For its part, the court considered the obituary in place, and supported the decision to close the school and rejected the lawsuit filed by the school, on the basis of the school’s full responsibility before the Council for its transportation service, and that it must operate the vehicles used to deliver students in a manner that achieves their security and safety, and that they are equipped with cameras And tracking devices linked to satellites, adding that the law sets specific standards for school bus drivers, and stresses the need for a supervisor to ensure the safety of students’ arrival, boarding and disembarkation from the bus, and to ensure that the bus is completely empty of passengers upon its arrival.

The court also referred to the penal ruling issued in the incident, which held the school responsible for the incident, as it did not perform its supervisory and preventive duties imposed by law, which proves the existence of a significant defect in security and safety requirements, and this case applies to Article 83 of the regulations for private schools in Abu Dhabi, which gave the council the right to cancel the license of any school without going through the procedures.

It is noteworthy that the details of the case date back to October 7, 2014, the day after the Eid al-Adha holiday, when the girl fell asleep on the way from her home to school.

When the bus arrived, the students got off, except for her, as she was asleep, and neither the driver nor the bus supervisor tried to make sure that the vehicle was empty, and that all the children got off the bus, and consequently the bus was closed while the girl Naziha was still in it.

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