New code to halt school violence to be issued

Drive to stamp out fighting and prevent misbehaviour at government schools with rules and guidelines, as well as CCTV cameras.

DUBAI // A new code of conduct for pupils at government schools is to be introduced to cut incidents of violence and vandalism.

Government schools are the scene of "occasional fights" between students, vandalism of school property and "occasional verbal altercations" between teachers and students, according to the Ministry of Education, which is behind the new initiative.

Kaneez al Abdolli, director of the ministry's student counselling department, explained that the code would be tailored for each age group. "An enhanced Student Behavioural Discipline Code is being prepared for circulation with the aim of promoting good conduct and countering bad behaviour," she said in a statement.

With the details of the code under discussion, attention has again focused on efforts to improve behaviour in schools - an issue that was raised in the Federal National Council in June by Hamad al Midfa, a member for Sharjah.

After his constituents raised concerns, Mr al Midfa called for more CCTV cameras to be installed in government schools. "A code of conduct for students would be very important," he said yesterday. "From my point of view the majority of the students are behaving well, but there are a few, due to social problems, who can cause harm to others." Making students aware of and responsible for their actions would help to improve behaviour, according to Mr al Midfa, who stressed that increased surveillance is equally important.

"This is a very important issue and we have to make sure the students are controlled and guided," he said. Cameras in schools will "help authorities provide some of the remedies in the long run. Bad students should be watched because all the students are valuable, not just to their parents, but to the whole country." The ministry said a "great number of schools" have installed CCTV cameras of their own accord.

It is a precautionary measure "to curb aspects of bad behaviour that may take place", Ms al Abdolli said. "According to school principals, these security cameras have played a significant preventive role." There are no instances of "premeditated or deliberate violence" within the government school system, only what she described as isolated "impulsive" acts. "Based on field observations and school reports, what happens in our schools is nothing more than behaviour that accompanies certain phases of growth in a student environment as a result of disparities in customs, traditions and culture among members of the school community," Ms al Abdolli said.

"The ministry responds promptly to field reports of bad behaviour, and so do the educational zones and the schools - but those cases cannot be labelled as instances of school violence," she added. Khalifa al Nuaimi, a teacher in a government school for boys in grades 6 to 9, said CCTV cameras were installed in his school in Abu Dhabi five years ago and they had a "huge impact" on behaviour. In Mr al Nuaimi's school, fighting between students is rare, he said.

"You can find it more obvious in grades 10 to 12, but still not too much," he said. "Some kids want to show they are stronger so they fight the younger children." Students who are caught fighting in Mr al Nuaimi's school are issued with one warning. If they repeat the offence, they can be expelled. "We can forgive some bad behaviour, but not fighting," he said. According to Mohamed al Dhaheri, the executive director of the Abu Dhabi Education Council's school operations division, the behaviour of students in government schools in Abu Dhabi emirate is monitored by at least two social workers. Support staff also ensure that the students are "well looked after" while they are in school.

"We are not aware of any violent incidents happening within our schools," Mr al Dhaheri said. Fatma al Marri, chief executive of the Knowledge and Human Development Authority's Dubai Schools Agency, stressed that simply installing cameras in schools was not enough to combat problem behaviour. "CCTV cameras alone are not going to solve the problem of violence in schools," she said. "Parents play an important role by monitoring their children and reporting early signs of violence to the specialists in schools. Partnerships between parents, teachers and other specialists will create a network that makes it more difficult for any form of violence to flourish."