By IANS
DOHA: The private school in Qatar where the death of a four-year-old Indian student occurred Sunday has been ordered shut, according to an official statement from Qatar’s Ministry of Education and Higher Education on Wednesday. It said in a tweet that an investigation revealed negligence among its workers. Those responsible have been “subjected to the most severe penalties”, the authority said.
The kindergarten student who had dozed off on her school bus on her way to school spent over four hours inside it, on Sunday, which was also her birthday.
The school bus staff failed to notice the child and locked the vehicle after parking it out in the open after reaching the school, as per media reports.
The school bus driver and the attendant found the girl when they returned to the bus around 11:30 am, nearly four hours later. She was found unconscious and rushed to a hospital but could not be revived.
The absence of air circulation and heat may have been the reason behind the child’s death, according to a preliminary probe.
قررت وزارة التربية والتعليم والتعليم العالي إغلاق الروضة الخاصة التي شهدت الحادث المأساوي الذي هز المجتمع، موقعة أشد العقوبات؛ بعد أن أثبت التحقيق تقصير العاملين ما أدى إلى وفاة إحدى الطالبات. وتجدد الوزارة التزامها بضمان أمن وسلامة أبنائنا الطلبة في مختلف مؤسساتنا التعليمية.
— وزارة التربية والتعليم والتعليم العالي (@Qatar_Edu) September 13, 2022
Three people have been arrested in connection to the death, as per media reports.
Four-year-old Minsa Mariam Jacob was a student of Springfield Kindergarten in Al Wakra, a town on the outskirts of capital Doha.
Minsa was the youngest child of Kerala natives Abilash Chacko and Soumya Chacko, who have another daughter.
The child’s remains flown to Kerala earlier today for the funeral at the family’s residence Chingavanam in Kottayam.
Several parents expressed outrage over the tragedy.
A parent, Abdelaal Abdallah Abdelaal Khalil, an Egyptian national, whose four children study in an Indian school in Doha, said that such an incident has happened for the first time in the country.
“After the attendant has checked the bus, even the driver should repeat the drill. In this way such unfortunate incidents can be avoided,” said the lawyer from Alexandria, who has lived in Qatar for close to 15 years.
Another young Indian student of a CBSE school died 2010 under similar circumstances at DPS-Modern Indian School in Doha. She was left locked in the school bus after dozing off on her way to school.
A senior Indian teacher at a CBSE school in Doha called it utter carelessness on the part of the dead child’s school. “Our school has a system of calling the parents to find the reason for absenteeism before classes begin. Or alternatively, schools can make it compulsory that parents send an email or WhatsApp message before classes start if their child is absent. This will alert parents or school authorities if something untoward happens,” said the middle-aged educator on condition of anonymity.
Children must be educated on how to deal with such situations, if it comes to this, she added, showing an educative video in which a school child uses the bus horn to draw attention after being locked inside the vehicle. The video has been doing the rounds of social media here.
The Minister of Education and Higher Education, Buthainabint Ali Al Nuaimi paid a condolence visit to the grieving family on Monday.
(With online desk inputs)
DOHA: The private school in Qatar where the death of a four-year-old Indian student occurred Sunday has been ordered shut, according to an official statement from Qatar’s Ministry of Education and Higher Education on Wednesday. It said in a tweet that an investigation revealed negligence among its workers. Those responsible have been “subjected to the most severe penalties”, the authority said.
The kindergarten student who had dozed off on her school bus on her way to school spent over four hours inside it, on Sunday, which was also her birthday.
The school bus staff failed to notice the child and locked the vehicle after parking it out in the open after reaching the school, as per media reports.
The school bus driver and the attendant found the girl when they returned to the bus around 11:30 am, nearly four hours later. She was found unconscious and rushed to a hospital but could not be revived.
The absence of air circulation and heat may have been the reason behind the child’s death, according to a preliminary probe.
قررت وزارة التربية والتعليم والتعليم العالي إغلاق الروضة الخاصة التي شهدت الحادث المأساوي الذي هز المجتمع، موقعة أشد العقوبات؛ بعد أن أثبت التحقيق تقصير العاملين ما أدى إلى وفاة إحدى الطالبات. وتجدد الوزارة التزامها بضمان أمن وسلامة أبنائنا الطلبة في مختلف مؤسساتنا التعليمية.
— وزارة التربية والتعليم والتعليم العالي (@Qatar_Edu) September 13, 2022
Three people have been arrested in connection to the death, as per media reports.
Four-year-old Minsa Mariam Jacob was a student of Springfield Kindergarten in Al Wakra, a town on the outskirts of capital Doha.
Minsa was the youngest child of Kerala natives Abilash Chacko and Soumya Chacko, who have another daughter.
The child’s remains flown to Kerala earlier today for the funeral at the family’s residence Chingavanam in Kottayam.
Several parents expressed outrage over the tragedy.
A parent, Abdelaal Abdallah Abdelaal Khalil, an Egyptian national, whose four children study in an Indian school in Doha, said that such an incident has happened for the first time in the country.
“After the attendant has checked the bus, even the driver should repeat the drill. In this way such unfortunate incidents can be avoided,” said the lawyer from Alexandria, who has lived in Qatar for close to 15 years.
Another young Indian student of a CBSE school died 2010 under similar circumstances at DPS-Modern Indian School in Doha. She was left locked in the school bus after dozing off on her way to school.
A senior Indian teacher at a CBSE school in Doha called it utter carelessness on the part of the dead child’s school. “Our school has a system of calling the parents to find the reason for absenteeism before classes begin. Or alternatively, schools can make it compulsory that parents send an email or WhatsApp message before classes start if their child is absent. This will alert parents or school authorities if something untoward happens,” said the middle-aged educator on condition of anonymity.
Children must be educated on how to deal with such situations, if it comes to this, she added, showing an educative video in which a school child uses the bus horn to draw attention after being locked inside the vehicle. The video has been doing the rounds of social media here.
The Minister of Education and Higher Education, Buthainabint Ali Al Nuaimi paid a condolence visit to the grieving family on Monday.
(With online desk inputs)
