UAE bans detentions, downgrading, and mockery as forms of school discipline

UAE bans detentions, downgrading, and mockery as forms of school discipline
No detention, corporal punishment, ridicule or downgrading — so what can teachers do? (Shutterstock)
Updated 04 October 2017
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UAE bans detentions, downgrading, and mockery as forms of school discipline

UAE bans detentions, downgrading, and mockery as forms of school discipline

DUBAI: Students in the UAE will no longer be expected to serve detention or suffer lower grades as a form of punishment according to new rules published in the code of conduct for teachers.
The code was first published six years ago, and was updated last month, but the changes were only made public this week, UAE daily The National reported.
The changes come as part of a newly updated code of conduct for teachers and school staff that also bans the use of corporal punishment as a form of punishment.
The rules also prohibit teachers in UAE schools from mocking or using sarcasm toward students, depriving them of food or toilet breaks, and using verbal insults or confiscating their belongings.
Under the new regulations there are four degrees of violations students can be accused of committing. And the code suggests different procedures to handle the behavior.
Correctional procedures include verbal and written warnings, programs for reforming the behavior and in serious cases students can eventually be expelled and told to attend mandatory “bad conduct rehabilitation programs.”