Sharjah ‘hostage’ school owner banned from operational position and its premises

SHARJAH // The owner of the private primary school that detained 15 students over their parents’ unpaid school fees has been banned from its premises and from interfering in its operation.

The Sharjah Educational Zone’s three-member investigating committee found that the female owner of Nibras Al Iman School was also working as its finance and accounting manager, and it is believed that she ordered the detainment of the pupils, aged between seven and eight.

The Ministry of Education bans any school owner from taking a managerial position in his or her school.

The two-day investigation concluded on Wednesday with a stern warning to the school.

A government circular would be sent to all private schools in Sharjah to remind them not to take action against non-paying parents outside the rules set out by the Ministry of Education, said Mohammed Ismael Al Zarouni, the head of the schools licensing section at Sharjah Educational Zone’s private-education department.

salamir@thenational.ae