The heartbroken family of a four-year-old girl who died after being left on a school bus in Qatar are calling for better safety standards in schools.
Minsa Maryam fell asleep on the bus travelling to her school in the eastern city of Al Wakrah on September 11, the same day she was due to celebrate her fourth birthday.
She was found hours later by school staff and taken to hospital, but doctors were unable to save her.
If a simple headcount were done, my daughter would have been alive now
Abilash Chacko,
father of Minsa Maryam
Speaking from their family home in India, her father said the tragic accident has put the spotlight on the issue of child neglect.
“If a simple headcount were done, my daughter would have been alive now,” Abilash Chacko told The National.
“It was Minsa’s birthday [that day]. We were planning to go out in the evening and buy her a blue dress and a blueberry cake.
“She even wanted a blue toy, her favourite colour.”
Minsa’s father, mother and sister, Mika, 9, travelled back to their home state of Kerala from Qatar to attend her funeral, which took place on Wednesday.
Speaking only a few days after the emotional ceremony, which was attended by friends and family, Mr Chacko recalled the moment he received a call from the school about Minsa.
“We were under the impression that she was in her class,” he said.
“It was around noon when I got a call from [someone at] her school saying there was an emergency. I could sense the panic in their voice.
“While I was still on my way [to the school], my wife, Soumya, had already reached. She saw an ambulance leaving the school gate with Minsa in it.
“I cannot stop thinking of Minsa’s final hours inside that hot bus. Did she die in her sleep? Did she try to knock on the door and cry for help? No other parent should go through this trauma.”
Though the girl was taken to the intensive care unit, doctors could not save her.
On September 13, Qatar's education ministry announced it has closed the school due to ongoing investigations into the incident.
In a tweet, it said: "The Ministry of Education and Higher Education decided to close the private kindergarten, which witnessed the tragic accident that shook the community with the death of one of the female student."
Calling for increased safety standards in schools, Mr Chacko said “children are not cargo” and said staff needed better training to ensure the utmost safety of [pupils].
“This is not the first time a child has died due to neglect, but I hope this is the last," he said.
Mr Chacko added that if his daughter's death brought about a change in attitude, it would be a small relief for the family.
Child safety education
Tragic stories related to child neglect often dominate the headlines in the Gulf.
Last week, an Emirati toddler drowned in her family’s swimming pool in Ras Al Khaimah after she snuck out of the house.
In another incident on Tuesday, a young boy was found dangling from a window of a high-rise in Sharjah after his mother left him alone for a few minutes to go and buy breakfast at a shop below the building.
Luckily, he was saved by the timely intervention of a watchman and maintenance staff.
UAE authorities have said more than 30 children died between 2012 and 2022 after falling out of windows or balconies.
And in Dubai alone, police responded to 103 cases of child abuse and neglect in 2020.
Authorities have warned parents they could face prosecution and jail time for negligence.
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What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
