Dubai - No male staff should be allowed to interact with little children, demand parents.
Published: Tue 15 Dec 2015, 8:09 PM
A shocked parent community in Dubai called for stricter child safety rules following an alleged molestation happened in an Indian curriculum school on Friday.
Over 35 parents met senior authorities of the school on Monday where a school gardener was caught red-handed as he groped a third grade girl child.
Dubai-based parent P.S. said: "Schools need to hire only female nannies to take care of primary school children. CCTV cameras must be installed in school campuses as well."
Five suggestions from parents> No male staff must be allowed to interact with small children
> Hire only female nannies for them
> Install CCTV cameras inside and outside school
> Nannies must be deployed outside classrooms
> Hire social workers and counsellors
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According to eyewitnesses and a complaint that was sent to the school principal, the gardener was allegedly caught red-handed as he groped the child.
Even though the school authorities assured parents that 'strict action' had been taken against the gardener, several parents, on Sunday, demanded that he must be handed over to the police.
School officials said that the perpetrator has been sacked since this incident.
"He has been terminated ... and will be deported in the next 24 hours," said an official statement from the school.
The parents who met with the school officials said that the school will act on the new suggestions and fresh security measures will be put in place soon.
"We made the following suggestions to the school. Firstly, only female nannies must be hired to take care of smaller children during school hours; secondly, no male staff should allowed to interact with smaller girl children; thirdly, install CCTV cameras inside and outside the campus; fourthly, more nannies must be deployed in open grass walkways during play hours to keep a watch on children," said D.P, another parent.
Parents also said that school counsellors must give children lectures and lessons on 'safe touch areas' for girl students, and arrangements must be made for parents to be seated inside the school premises during weekend sports activities and extra classes. The school must hire a social worker and a trained counsellor to deal with trauma cases as well, said the parents.
They are also demanding a clear time frame from the school to implement these plans, and a follow-up meeting will be held on Thursday.
School officials did not respond to Khaleej Times requests for a follow up interview.
Some parents expressed shock at the incident, especially since the school in question has extremely high security protocols.
"Even parents have to hand over their Emirates ID to the parent communication office in case they need to take the child out before school hours. It is shocking this happened," added P.S.
Opinion poll
Outside of the parent community, the general public has also called for tighter security measures in schools.
According to data collected from a poll on the Khaleej Times website, over 93 per cent of the respondents of the poll are calling for stricter child safety rules in schools.
About 598 people took part in the KT poll and only 6.8 per cent of the total respondents said that there is no need for change of child safety rules in UAE schools. UAE residents abhorred by the incident and expressed their opinions on social media.
They said that perpetrators of child abuse cases must be heavily punished, with public lashings and death sentences.
Gabrielle Farmer said: "Some children are not wise enough to sense the evil ones who get into schools and do these things for many years... Hanging the culprit is the only deterrent against child abuse."
She added: "Teach children not all people act good. Punish all sexual offenders."
Another Facebook user Maneet Kaur added: "Yes there need to be more strict child safety rules in the schools and it should be made sure that they are actually being followed by the schools."
dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com
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