Abu Dhabi: Pupils currently enrolled at Al Worood Academy Private School in the capital will soon be assigned alternative seats in different schools ahead of the institution’s mandated shut down in August 2015.
The school has been ordered shuttered after one of its pupils, four-year-old Nizaha Aalaa, died in a school bus due to negligence in October 2014. In a statement sent on Thursday, the emirate’s education sector regulator Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec), announced that all 1,900 Al Worood pupils will be offered alternative seats at schools located on and off Abu Dhabi island.
In a bid to ensure convenience, schools have been selected for Al Worood pupils close to their residences. In addition, siblings have been allocated to attend the same alternative school.
Parents will soon receive text messages from Adec that ask them to collect reallocation letters containing names of the suggested school for their children. These letters will be available at Al Worood, and parents must register their children at the alternative school within one week of receiving the letter, the Adec statement said.
“[The] Adec shall bear no responsibility for [parents] not approaching the assigned school within this [set] time [of one week from receipt of the letter],” the statement added.
It added that parents who wish to opt for other public or private schools for their children do so at their own risk and responsibility.
As reported by Gulf News, Al Worood was ordered shut down last October after Indian kindergarten pupil Aalaa was mistakenly left locked in her school bus for more than four hours. She died as a result of heat exhaustion. Adec took over the financial and administrative management at the school in order to ensure pupils’ safety and security.
A verdict issued earlier this month saw the Abu Dhabi Court of Misdemeanours uphold the closure decision.
Adel Al Marzouqui, a government employee with three children enrolled at Al Worood, told Gulf News he was happy to hear of Adec’s measures.
“I have previously tried to enrol my children at other schools, but in vain. So I approached Adec with my concerns, and today’s news is therefore a positive one for parents like me. Still, I am waiting to find out which schools my children have been assigned to, and if these offer better safety standards and high levels of education,” he said.
