Dubai: A staff member committed suicide on campus at GEMS Jumeriah College in Dubai on Monday morning, Dubai Police said.
In a statement to Gulf News, a GEMS Education spokesperson said: “We confirm an incident where a member of staff sadly passed away on the school premises this morning. All relevant authorities were promptly called to the school and no student witnessed the incident.”
The spokesperson added: “GEMS Education places significant importance in child safeguarding and as a preventive step all students have been sent home today. The school will be open as normal tomorrow.”
No further details were available in the statement.
“It was a suicide by a worker in the school,” an official in Dubai Police said.
Dubai Police didn’t disclose further details regarding the investigation in the incident.
A student at the school told Gulf News on condition of anonymity: “A notice came over the speaker system at the end of first break telling us to go back to our classrooms at about 8.55am.
“People whose classes were in the science quarter had to go to the sports hall and avoid the science corridor, we weren’t even allowed to see it and teachers blocked the stairway, forming a pathway for us to avoid the area.
“People whose classes were in the science block couldn’t go back to their lockers and had to leave everything behind including their phones, bags and books.
“We only got to do our first period and were kept inside our classes until the end of the second period.
“We saw two police cars and an ambulance with a stretcher outside.
“At 10.30am our parents were allowed to collect us but we had to leave through the sports hall and reception. We weren’t allowed to go anywhere near the science quarter.”
Gulf News has reached out for more information from authorities.
GEMS Jumeirah College, founded in 1999, is a private UK-curriculum school, rated ‘outstanding’ in the last government inspections.
The school, which teaches around 1,120 students, is located off Al Wasl Road in the Jumeriah area of Dubai.
