School in Dubai pays Dh100,000 to boy over flawed report

Dubai - A German parent of Arab origin earlier sued the school for allegedly making false claims.

Following a Dubai court verdict, a German school in Dubai paid Dh100,000 to a student's parents over false claims that the child needed "behavioural intervention" and failure to provide necessary support to improve educational performance.

In May, the Dubai Court of First Instance ordered the German International School in Dubai to pay the amount in compensation for the financial burden it has put parents through after claiming their son needed behavioural intervention.

A German parent of Arab origin earlier sued the school for allegedly making false claims.

According to court records, the school prevented his son, who joined the first grade for the academic year 2016-2017, from attending classes and punished him for causing problems in the classroom.

The father said that one week after the beginning of the school year, the school began to "persecute the child, treat him badly and punish him without justification, claiming he caused problems in the classroom and could not grasp the curriculum".

The boy's father satisfied the school's requests through hiring an accompanied teacher and designing special curriculum and skill development programmes, a process that cost him an additional Dh100,000. However, he was surprised when the administration informed him his son was no longer wanted at the school one month after the start of the school year.

However, the boy's father managed to find a new school for his son. He was surprised that the new school's reports revealed that his son's educational level and science achievements are "very good" and his behaviour as "normal" to his colleagues with no psychological problems.

The boy's parents then decided to sue the school for deceitful reports that cost them Dh100,000 worth of tuition and additional fees.

According to court records, the school refunded the tuition fees after the boy's mother submitted an application to cancel the registration of both her sons at the school back in February 2017. But the additional charges that went to special education fees were not refunded.

In February 2018 before the adjudication of the case, the court ruled the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) to hire a committee to evaluate the case at the school.

The KHDA officials had visited the school and held several meetings with the school, the boy's parents and teachers.

According to court documents, the KHDA filed its final report after looking at documents submitted by both the school and the parents. The committee found no sufficient evidence that the school developed a plan for early intervention to enhance the boy's progress and meet his social, psychological and behavioural needs. Evidence provided by the school to the KHDA also failed to show guaranteeing the child positive educational experience.

The defendant was also reported to have violated the enforced established principles in managing the child's behaviour when the boy was issued a red card and deprived from participating in his Physical Education. The school had also given him a red card in November 2016, preventing him from attending school classes for three days. According to the KHDA report, these techniques didn't suit children at such an early age, and only increased feelings of anger and injustice in the child's psyche.

"Evidence showed the school only informed parents about negative behaviours and didn't give support. The school's accident record provided by the school, in addition to incidents documented, was limited to the document of negative behaviours and didn't include any steps to treat them," read the report.

Based on the documents, the court ruled the compensation with legal interest of 9 per cent per annum, in addition to attorney's fees. The school declined to give a statement when reached out for comments.

sherouk@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai