Dubai's education regulator has called on parents and teachers to work together to tackle bullying and bad behaviour in schools, after a study showed thousands of pupils feel unsafe in the classroom.
A poll of 64,686 grade 6 to 9 pupils at 168 schools by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority found that 11 per cent - more than 6,000 - do not feel safe in school.
The Dubai Student Wellbeing Census asked the pupils, aged 12 to 14, if they agreed with the statement "I feel safe at school", with 77 per cent saying they do, 12 per cent saying they neither agree or disagree, and the remaining 11 per cent disagreeing with the statement.
The data was collected at the end of 2017.
In June, video footage showing pupils wrecking a classroom in the UAE was widely shared on social media.
The footage was condemned by the Ministry of Education.
Hind Al Mualla, chief of creativity, happiness and innovation at Knowledge and Human Development Authority, says parents, schools and decision-makers must all work together to tackle the misbehaviour of pupils.
"Pupils' well-being and safety is the responsibility of all stakeholders – schools, teachers, parents, policymakers and operators – and we must all work together to ensure children feel happy and safe," said Ms Al Mualla.
"If the child demonstrates negative or bullying traits, it’s as much the parents’ role to intercept this behaviour as it is the school’s to ensure that all classrooms are safe spaces for pupils."
Ms Al Mualla said schools should focus on creating a respectful and caring climate for pupils to learn in.
"Pupils that feel safe at school are more likely to also feel that there is care and respect between people at school and that pupils feel like they belong in this school and are important to the school. Feeling safe is more about the school environment and whether there is support for pupils. Therefore, the focus for schools should be to develop a climate that helps students feel safe and happy at school,” she said.
Based on the findings of the first census, the KHDA organised a number of workshops to help schools understand the data and create policies to improve areas based on the needs of each individual school.
The new school term begins next month and Ms Al Mualla has called for effective communication between schools, pupils and parents to help create a better environment for children and "reduce pressures" which may cause some pupils to misbehave.
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"Schools can also seek professional advice from the concerned entities on how to tackle incidents in schools and reduce them,” she added.
The education body recommends schools introduce initiatives supporting pupil well-being.
Clive Pierrepont, director of communications at the school operator Taaleem, said they do not conduct bag searches in their schools and have not had any recent incidents of pupils sneaking dangerous objects into schools.
Dubai British School has prohibited the use of mobile phones during school hours and Greenfield Community School is using mindfulness to help pupils gain a sense of calm.
Parents in Dubai said they have never heard of violence in schools in Dubai but are in favour of bag checks at schools.
Ayesha Umair, a Pakistani mother, said she is satisfied with the way schools are regulating.
"I think all parents inherit a worry bug when they become parents so worry is always there," she said.
"I am not opposed to having bag checks if necessary," she said.
Clementina Kongslund, an expatriate living in Dubai, has two children, aged five and eight, studying at Gems Schools.
"I'm not worried for their safety but they can get hurt on the playground very easily, but these are accidents. Otherwise, safety measures and procedures are in place and the kids come home just with the usual scratches and bruises that we all had when we were children,” said Ms Kongslund, who is the founder of Dubai Mums, a forum for expatriate mothers in Dubai.
She said she has never heard of children bringing blades to schools in Dubai but said schools should have CCTV to ensure the safety of pupils and uncover incident of bullying.
"I think bullying is the most harmful experience that can be in a school nowadays. I think children wouldn't bring any kind of weapons in school if they didn't feel threatened," she said.
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1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes 306
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari 247
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes 234
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull 192
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari 148
6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull 111
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Sun jukebox
Rufus Thomas, Bear Cat (The Answer to Hound Dog) (1953)
This rip-off of Leiber/Stoller’s early rock stomper brought a lawsuit against Phillips and necessitated Presley’s premature sale to RCA.
Elvis Presley, Mystery Train (1955)
The B-side of Presley’s final single for Sun bops with a drummer-less groove.
Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two, Folsom Prison Blues (1955)
Originally recorded for Sun, Cash’s signature tune was performed for inmates of the titular prison 13 years later.
Carl Perkins, Blue Suede Shoes (1956)
Within a month of Sun’s February release Elvis had his version out on RCA.
Roy Orbison, Ooby Dooby (1956)
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Jerry Lee Lewis, Great Balls of Fire (1957)
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Date started: 2013
Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari
Based: Muscat, Oman
Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies
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Famous left-handers
- Marie Curie
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Norway 1 Spain 1
Norway: King (90 4')
Spain: Niguez (47')
Manchester City (0) v Liverpool (3)
Uefa Champions League, quarter-final, second leg
Where: Etihad Stadium
When: Tuesday, 10.45pm
Live on beIN Sports HD
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
TCL INFO
Teams:
Punjabi Legends Owners: Inzamam-ul-Haq and Intizar-ul-Haq; Key player: Misbah-ul-Haq
Pakhtoons Owners: Habib Khan and Tajuddin Khan; Key player: Shahid Afridi
Maratha Arabians Owners: Sohail Khan, Ali Tumbi, Parvez Khan; Key player: Virender Sehwag
Bangla Tigers Owners: Shirajuddin Alam, Yasin Choudhary, Neelesh Bhatnager, Anis and Rizwan Sajan; Key player: TBC
Colombo Lions Owners: Sri Lanka Cricket; Key player: TBC
Kerala Kings Owners: Hussain Adam Ali and Shafi Ul Mulk; Key player: Eoin Morgan
Venue Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Format 10 overs per side, matches last for 90 minutes
Timeline October 25: Around 120 players to be entered into a draft, to be held in Dubai; December 21: Matches start; December 24: Finals
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Squad: Majed Naser, Abdulaziz Sanqour, Walid Abbas, Khamis Esmail, Habib Fardan, Mohammed Marzouq (Shabab Al Ahli Dubai), Khalid Essa, Muhanad Salem, Mohammed Ahmed, Ismail Ahmed, Ahmed Barman, Amer Abdulrahman, Omar Abdulrahman (Al Ain), Ali Khaseif, Fares Juma, Mohammed Fawzi, Khalfan Mubarak, Mohammed Jamal, Ahmed Al Attas (Al Jazira), Ahmed Rashid, Mohammed Al Akbari (Al Wahda), Tariq Ahmed, Mahmoud Khamis, Khalifa Mubarak, Jassim Yaqoub (Al Nasr), Ali Salmeen (Al Wasl), Yousef Saeed (Sharjah), Suhail Al Nubi (Baniyas)
Key facilities
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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
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SPEC SHEET
Display: 6.8" edge quad-HD dynamic Amoled 2X, Infinity-O, 3088 x 1440, 500ppi, HDR10 , 120Hz
Processor: 4nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1/Exynos 2200, 8-core
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Platform: Android 12
Main camera: quad 12MP ultra-wide f/2.2, 108MP wide f/1.8, 10MP telephoto f/4.9, 10MP telephoto 2.4; Space Zoom up to 100x, auto HDR, expert RAW
Video: 8K@24fps, 4K@60fps, full-HD@60fps, HD@30fps, super slo-mo@960fps
Front camera: 40MP f/2.2
Battery: 5000mAh, fast wireless charging 2.0 Wireless PowerShare
Connectivity: 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC
I/O: USB-C
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Colours: burgundy, green, phantom black, phantom white, graphite, sky blue, red
Price: Dh4,699 for 128GB, Dh5,099 for 256GB, Dh5,499 for 512GB; 1TB unavailable in the UAE
MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Ukraine 2 (Yaremchuk 06', Yarmolenko 27')
Portugal 1 (Ronaldo 72' pen)