New school rules on handling absenteeism

Refusal of parents to acknowledge notifications will now be documented

- BY ALI AL HAMMADI

The Ministry of Education has announced new rules to address cases in which parents refuse to acknowledge or sign school absence notifications for students.

In such cases, schools have been instructed to document the refusal through email or SMS, keeping an officially certified copy of the communication on record.

Parents can file written complaints within five working days of the recorded absence. These will be reviewed by the school's Student Behaviour Committee, which has three working days to issue a decision.