School to implement new alert system after 7-year-old boy’s death in Sharjah

Sharjah: A British-curriculum school in Sharjah has decided to implement a new alert system after the tragic death of a student on Monday.

The seven-year-old Bangladeshi boy suffocated to death after he was left behind in a locked car, police said on Tuesday.

The Bangladeshi Consulate identified the child and said he was s a Year 2 student of Ibn Seena English High School in Sharjah. He was the only son among his parents’ three children, the Consulate told Gulf News.

Get exclusive content with Gulf News WhatsApp channel

According to the police, the boy’s parents had contracted a female driver to take the boy to school.

The police said when the driver returned to the car, parked next to the school, at the end of the school day, she found the child motionless inside the vehicle.

Police said the driver was not arrested because of the boy’s father’s “concession and his unwillingness to accuse her [the driver] of causing his son’s death; she was only banned from travelling”.

Offering heartfelt condolences over the tragic incident, a spokesperson of the Consulate said, “What happened was very tragic.”

Meanwhile, Gabrielle Dube, vice-principal of the school, told Gulf News when contacted that in light of the tragedy, the school will implement a new system of informing or checking with parents about the absence of any student in the morning hours of the school day itself. Attendence of students is duly intimated to the ministry by 9am, she added.

Dube said the incident has shocked the entire school community.

“It was a terrible, terrible tragedy and I don’t know anybody who has not been touched by it,” she said.

She said the school community held a condolence meeting and teachers attended the funeral of the student on Tuesday.

School transport

Time and again, the Sharjah Police General Command have warned parents about the dangers of contracting drivers unlicensed to transport children to and from schools. This can result in serious risks to the lives of the children, given such drivers’ ignorance of the safety procedures imposed by the competent authorities.

The Sharjah Police General Command have called upon parents to instead use designated school buses, which are equipped with due security and safety means, and are subject to continuous monitoring by the authorities.

Among other things, school buses are mandated to appoint two to three supervisors as well as install CCTVs inside the vehicles, so that they can be monitored by the school administrations as well as parents through the application ”Máan”.

Despite these safeguards, some parents prefer to hire private cars to drop off and pick up their children to and from school as they come at a lower cost.

After Tuesday’s incident, some community groups on social media have stopped accepting posts regarding car lifts as they are not legal.