Public school pupils moved to safer premises in capital

Hamdan Bin Mohammad School fell short of health and safety requirements

In order to ensure their safety, pupils at a public school in the suburbs of Abu Dhabi have been relocated to nearby facilities, the Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec) announced in a statement yesterday.

The relocation was undertaken because the Hamdan Bin Mohammad School in Bani Yas was found to fall short of health and safety standards set by the emirate’s education sector regulator, the Adec statement said.

Pupils enrolled in the school’s Cycle 3 (Grades 10 to 12) were moved to Al Sammaliya School in Shawamekh. Teachers also made the move along with their pupils.

In order to accommodate the large number of these Cycle 3 pupils, those in Cycle 2 (Grades 6 to 9) at Al Sammaliya were also reassigned to nearby institutions based on geographical nearness to their homes. For example, those living in Shakhbout City were moved to Jern Yafoor School, while those residing in Shamkha were re-enrolled at Al Mutanabi School. Pupils who live in Shawamekh, on the other hand, were relocated to Al Moatasem School.

In addition, kindergarten pupils at Al Zayediya Kindergarten have been moved to a nearby vacant school building.

The relocated pupils have also been given access to convenient transport facilities.

As reported by Gulf News, the start of the 2012-2013 academic year saw 21 newly built public schools, while eight were refurbished. In addition, 50 schools were closed or merged with others to ensure that all public school pupils have access to a safe premise with quality infrastructure near their homes.

Similar efforts saw 72 private institutions that were deemed unsafe, known as villa schools, shut down by the start of the 2015-2016 academic year, with some of them relocating to purposebuilt facilities.