Abu Dhabi, UAE: The Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK) has rolled out a significant update to student behaviour management in Abu Dhabi schools. Effective from the current academic year, the new framework bans 10 commonly used disciplinary punishments and introduces a more structured and positive behaviour policy. The move aims to foster respectful, safe, and inclusive school environments while harmonising disciplinary practices across all institutions.
What’s Changing: Banned Punishments
ADEK’s updated policy explicitly prohibits the following ten disciplinary actions:
- Corporal punishment — Any physical force or punishment causing discomfort.
- Disclosing personal information — Revealing a student’s medical, financial, or family affairs without consent.
- Psychological punishment — Verbally abusing, threatening, mocking, insulting, or humiliating students, whether publicly or privately.
- Confinement within school premises — Isolating students or locking them up in restricted areas.
- Confiscating personal belongings without approval from the Behaviour Management Committee, including phones or music players.
- Deducting grades or threatening to lower academic marks as a form of punishment.
- Imposing additional school assignments unrelated to learning outcomes.
- Preventing use of sanitary facilities or access to food and drink.
- Detention outside official school hours without guardian consent.
- Humiliation or shaming tactics, including mocking or ridiculing students in front of peers or staff.
ADEK emphasises that discipline must be respectful, fair, age-appropriate, and uphold students’ dignity. Any punitive measure outside the ban list must be applied under consistent, transparent criteria and by approved authorities within the school.
Levels of Misconduct & Permissible Actions
Under the new framework, student misconduct is divided into four levels, with corresponding permissible disciplinary measures:
- Level 1: Minor misbehaviours like repeated tardiness, forgetting resources, sleeping during class, or misuse of digital devices. These are handled mainly by class teachers and involve verbal or class-level warnings.
- Level 2: More serious infractions such as leaving the classroom without permission, bullying, verbal abuse, tobacco or mobile phone violations. Repetition leads to written warnings, temporary suspensions, or other moderate sanctions.
- Level 3: Higher severity actions like academic dishonesty (cheating, plagiarism), vandalism of school property, assault, reckless behaviour around school premises. Consequences may escalate to in-school suspension, loss of privileges, or longer suspensions.
- Level 4: The most serious violations including assault, possession of weapons, setting fires, or illicit use of digital content. These may lead to permanent suspension or expulsion after thorough investigation.
Schools are required to record behaviour incidents and escalate responses appropriately according to the level. For Levels 2-4, ADEK must be notified of serious or repeated violations.
Safeguards & Oversight
To ensure fairness and alignment with the new policy, ADEK has established oversight measures:
- Schools must set up a Behaviour Management Committee (at least 4 members) to approve serious disciplinary actions and supports.
- Disciplinary measures must be age-appropriate and consistent with the student’s developmental stage.
- All expelled students require ADEK approval for final removal from school.
- Schools must document incidents, maintain reports, and follow transparent procedures for reporting to guardians.
- Support and intervention services are emphasised for students who struggle to meet expectations, rather than immediate harsh sanctions.
Goals & Rationale
The reform reflects wider shifts in education policy in Abu Dhabi toward positive discipline, emotional safety, student dignity, and consistent behavioural expectations. Some of the key aims are:
- Reducing punishments that are counterproductive, embarrassing, or damaging to students’ wellbeing.
- Promoting positive behaviour, respect, accountability, and responsibility across school communities.
- Ensuring all students understand their rights and consequences in a fair, systematized framework.
- Providing schools with clearer guidance and harmonised disciplinary standards to avoid inconsistencies.
- Supporting students who display behavioural concerns or misconduct through interventions rather than only punitive action.
Implications for Schools, Teachers & Students
- Schools will need to update their student behaviour policies, train staff in the new standards, and align disciplinary practices with the banned punishments. Behaviour Committees must be properly established and empowered.
- Teachers must adapt to the new framework: learning to recognise what constitutes banned behaviour, using positive behaviour management, and avoiding punishments no longer allowed.
- Students can expect a more respectful, transparent, and supportive environment. The rights to confidentiality and dignity are emphasised.
- Parents will be involved more clearly: guardian meetings may be necessary in serious incidents; also, schools’ disciplinary decisions must be communicated with guardians, and parental consent is required in specific detention or suspension cases.
Challenges & Considerations
While the policy represents strong progress, there may be teething issues:
- Ensuring all schools and teachers fully understand and consistently apply the banned punishment list.
- Training requirement—educators need capacity building in alternative discipline and student welfare practices.
- Managing cases where guardians expect stricter discipline or appeal traditional authority.
- Monitoring and consistency: ensuring no school falls back into disallowed practices, and that oversight mechanisms are enforced.
- Handling serious misconduct with sufficient gravity, without purely punitive measures, yet protecting student and community safety.
Looking Ahead
ADEK expects full compliance with the revised policy across all private and charter schools in Abu Dhabi by the start of the upcoming academic year. Schools will be audited, and non-compliance could lead to regulatory penalties. ADEK also emphasises that the student behaviour policy is a living document; its effectiveness will be regularly reviewed, improved, and adjusted based on feedback and observed impact.
If effectively implemented, this policy could serve as a model for other emirates, balancing discipline with student welfare and dignity. For Abu Dhabi, it marks a new era of education discipline — one rooted in respect, clarity, and psychological safety.
