Height no barrier, he seeks to cross education hurdle

Ras Al Khaimah: Twenty-year-old Abdul Aziz Abdullah Al Shehi believed to be the world's shortest policeman is now determined to get a bachelor's degree.

Al Shehi, an Emirati, who stands an even two-feet (61 cm), studies in grade 8 at a night public school. Gulf News had reported the story two years ago when he was recruited by the force.

His family, which lives in Al Ma'amourah, enrolled him at a school for people with special needs when he was 10 and he studied until Grade 6 there.

Al Shehi, known among his colleagues as 'Azzouz', joined a training centre in Al Ain to undergo a three-month course to fulfil his dream of joining the police.

"I was only 16 years old when I passed the training course and my age prevented me from joining the police as the minimum age for applying is 18," he said. Once I turned 18, I applied to the police and was chosen to become a policeman to serve society," he said.

He has been working at the traffic section of Al Ma'amourah Police station. Al Shehi said: "My height is not a problem and I have managed to overcome this obstacle."

"The way people stare at me in malls and streets is disturbing. I usually ignore those looks and get on with my life," he said.

"I was extremely shy when people looked at me at my desk, but after a couple of months I broke this barrier. I admit that I still feel shy when I see girls and women."

First Lieutenant Mohammad Saeed Imbasi, Al Shehi's direct boss, said he has proved to everybody that the decision to recruit him was absolutely right.