New 'Text Alert' System For Absent Pupils in Abu Dhabi
A new alert system to inform parents that their child is missing from school will be implemented in Abu Dhabi within the next few weeks, according to a report in The National newspaper.
Parents will receive a text message from the school informing them of their child’s absence. This is the latest in a series of initiatives undertaken by school regulator Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) following the death of a three year old child, Nizaha Aalaa who was locked on a school bus.
Until now there has been no uniform policy for informing parents about their child’s absence and the issue has been left for individual schools to manage. The school that Nizaha attended, Al Worood Academy Private School, had a policy of calling parents only on the second day of a child’s absence.
On the day that Nizaha died, which was the day after the Eid Al Adha holiday, more than half of the school’s 2,200 pupils were absent. ADEC has ordered the closure of the school from August 2015. Five people have been charged in connection with Nizaha’s death. All deny the charges, and are due in court again next week.
