Dubai school introduces strict measures following molestation incident

Dubai: A Dubai school that terminated the services of a gardener for molesting a grade three girl is adopting new precautionary measures such as installing CCTV cameras and hiring female caretakers.

Gulf News had reported last Sunday that a Dubai school had terminated the services of the gardener after parents caught him in the act of touching a girl inappropriately on Friday.

The gardener was also reported to have misbehaved inappropriately with other grade three and four students.

The school said in a circular to parents on Sunday that the gardener “has been terminated from his services and will be deported within the next 24 hours.”

In the light of the incident, the school said it will enforce a few measures to allay concerns of parents. These include installing CCTV on its premises and hiring only female caretakers and cleaners for all grades of its junior school. The school told Gulf News, it will also educate children about handling such situations and plans on holding more interactive sessions with parents.

In addition, the school said it will have a female caretaker supervise the waiting area for children when parents are late to pick them up from the weekend sports club, which is where the alleged incident took place.

The school also plans on issuing identity cards to all students attending weekend sports club.

For parents carpooling, the school will require a signed letter of authority by the parent in case their child is being picked up by someone else.

“The safety, security and well-being of our children is of utmost importance to us and our school is, and will continue to provide a safe environment of learning for our children,” the school stated.

Gulf News spoke to some parents who said they were happy with the new precautionary measures.

One parent whose grade three child attends the same school welcomed the changes.

“Even though the gardener’s services were terminated I didn’t feel safe sending my daughter for weekend extra curricular activities. However, after hearing that these changes will be made my mind is more at ease,” she said.

The mother who preferred not to be named said she hopes these changes are implemented as soon as possible to ensure students’ safety and comfort for parents.

She believed having CCTV cameras and female caregivers will be beneficial.

Another parent whose son goes to grade three at the school said such measures are needed, especially since parents are required to drop their children off for the weekend activities and leave.

“Having the CCTV cameras is especially helpful. It will make perpetrators think twice before doing anything wrong,” said the father who also hoped the school will introduce these measures as soon as possible.