Teacher-student behaviour rules drawn

DUBAI - The Ministry of Education and Youth (MoEY) has come up with a set of guidelines regarding the behaviour of teachers towards students in private schools, rejecting outright any kind of physical punishment. It has said that teachers should not detain or expel any student, shut them out of the class or impose any form of mass punishment.

By Mohsen Rashid

Published: Tue 12 Oct 2004, 12:40 PM

Last updated: Thu 2 Feb 2023, 4:39 PM

The new guidelines have been incorporated into a book titled "Regulation of Behaviour Direction for Private School Students" prepared and published by the MoEY that will be circulated among all private schools this week.

The book is the first of its kind to be issued in the UAE, to regulate the educational process and define appropriate behaviour by the teachers towards the students, Jomaa Al Salamy, MoEY Assistant Under-Secretary for Private Education cited in an exclusive interview with Khaleej Times.

"It is more of a directory for good manners and positive behaviour rather than a penalty legislation," he said.

The regulations say that warning letters for mischievous or troublesome students should be deleted from their record if their conduct improves. It even recommends taking a further step to encourage such students by relieving them of all or part of the tuition fees.

Before punishing students, teachers should be convinced about their guilt, and the causes should also be investigated, Al Salamy confirmed. Irrevocable or final expulsion of a student should be the final or the extreme step.

About the procedures to be adopted prior to any final expulsion, Al Salamy said a verbal notice, followed by a written one, should be given, and then a warning and deprivation from awards and school activities. He added that a three-day suspension from class should then come, followed by transfer to another school and prohibiting registration for the next school year. However, along side all that, the student should be allowed to sit in the exams and his parents be kept informed of every step, he added.

According to Al Salamy, student's irregular attendance, leaving school without prior permission or non-adherence to school regulations should be notified to parents through a verbal notice, he said, adding that a written notice should be issued for uttering foul, abusive or indecent words, smoking or promoting harmful and banned substances at school. Warnings should be issued in cases of verbal or physical assault, forgery of school documents or certificates, and damage to school properties or belongings. Transfer from school is effected for abusing the teaching or administrative staff, or bringing immoral publications, photographs or tapes to school. Short-term suspension from school is imposed for using or dealing in drugs or recurrence of aforementioned violations.

As regards irrevocable expulsion, he said, it is in the event of deliberate abuse of Islam, physical assault on the teaching or administrative staff, and finally if conclusively convicted by any UAE Court of Law for any doctrinal or civil crime/misdemeanour.

Director of the relevant educational zone is entitled to mitigate the penalty, according to his discretion (but cannot annul or cancel it), in the event of student or his parents submitting a protest plea or filing a grievance against the final dismissal and the director deems it justifiable.