By Staff Reporter
UAE classrooms have become places of shared grief and quiet resilience as schools support students coping with the loss of classmates following two recent tragedies involving young pupils.
The deaths of four Indian expatriate brothers in a fatal car accident in Abu Dhabi on Sunday sent shockwaves through multiple school communities.
The tragedy came just weeks after another heartbreaking loss, the sudden death of 17-year-old Indian student Aisha Mariam, who collapsed from cardiac arrest at her Sharjah school in December, despite having no known medical history.
Together, the incidents have reignited difficult conversations about how schools address death, absence, and emotional pain especially among children and teenagers who are encountering loss for the first time.
When a Seat Is Left Empty
Naseer Chowthodika, a Physics teacher at Arab Unity School, described the emotional weight of returning to the classroom after losing one of his Year 10 students in the recent accident.
In a Facebook post, he recounted standing before the class to distribute winter examination papers, calling out students’ names one by one. When he reached the absent student’s name, he froze.
“The seat was empty,” he wrote. “The smile that once greeted us was gone. In that silence, memories of learning, laughter, and shared moments came rushing back. He was not just a student , he was family. His absence has left a void words cannot fill.”
The experience, he said, left teachers and students alike deeply shaken.
Gentle Leadership in Times of Loss
Sharjah Indian School principal Pramod Mahajan faced a similar moment following the death of Aisha Mariam. When students returned from the winter break, he addressed the tragedy during the morning assembly, choosing his words with care.
Later, he visited Aisha’s classroom and quietly sat in the seat she once occupied a chair her classmates were too emotional to use.
“I stayed there for about ten minutes,” Mahajan said. “It wasn’t about filling the chair. It was about showing the students that it was okay. Slowly, they felt comfortable again.”
He later met one of Aisha’s classmates who was still holding on to a final memory , the last lunch they shared before the holidays.
“These moments stay with children,” he said. “There is no single way to grieve. Some want to talk, others want silence. Our role is to provide a safe space for all of it.”
School counsellors, he added, continue to work closely with students, offering consistent emotional support as they attempt to return to routine.
Schools as Safe Havens
For Dubai resident Fiza, the pain became personal when her Year 9 son returned to Arab Unity School after the car crash. One of the deceased students had been his close friend.
“The principal and a teacher came to the class and explained what had happened,” she said. “Many of the children started crying. The school handled it delicately and asked the students to pray for their friend. It helped them feel supported.”
Veteran educator Lisa Johnson echoed the importance of collective care during times of loss. Recalling the death of a student named Hessa several years ago, she described how remembrance helped students heal.
“Schools are families,” said the former principal of the American Academy for Girls (AAG). “When we lost Hessa to cancer, we encouraged students to write messages, share memories, and place notes on a remembrance tree. Those gestures gave them space to grieve together.”
Beyond symbolic acts, Johnson emphasised structured emotional support. At AAG, a wellbeing triage system identifies students in distress, pairing them with trusted adults and counsellors for both immediate and long-term care.
“Teachers are guided to adjust expectations, whether that means flexibility with attendance, workload, or participation,” she said. “We continue check-ins long after the initial loss — especially on anniversaries. Art therapy also plays a powerful role in helping students express emotions they can’t yet put into words.”
Helping Children Name Their Grief
Dubai-based life coach and energy healer Girish Hemnani said one of the biggest challenges for children is understanding what they are feeling.
“For many children, grief is a nameless weight,” he explained. “When a friend dies, they lose more than a peer — they lose their sense of safety and predictability.”
Hemnani warned that grief often manifests in ways adults may misinterpret.
“It’s not always tears,” he said. “It can show up as irritability, exhaustion, stomach aches, or confusion. Validating these reactions is critical so children don’t feel something is ‘wrong’ with them.”
He also advised against using vague euphemisms when explaining death, particularly to younger children, encouraging gentle honesty instead.
“Most importantly,” he said, “every child should know who their ‘safe anchor’ is a parent, teacher, counsellor, or coach. That sense of security is what allows healing to begin.”
Source: Khaleej Times
