The director of the department of girls' education in Taif has clearly explained the procedures to be taken when the health condition of a student necessitates that she be taken by an ambulance to the hospital.
He said the management of the school would have to call the student's father or guardian and wait until he arrives. The female teachers would, meanwhile, try to provide first aid and basic medical attention to the sick student.
Only if the father is late or does not show up at all, can the school transport the student to the hospital. The director made the remarks while reacting to the tragic death of a female student at a high school in Taif. He said officials at the school dealt with the case according to the relevant rules and procedures.
What I understood from the director's words is that the girl should have been left to suffer and die until her father arrives and takes her to the hospital in his car.
Unfortunately for the girl, she died before reaching the hospital.
Neither the director nor the management of the school are to be blamed as long as the regulations say that a student has to wait for her father or guardian to come to the school and take her to the nearest hospital.
Blame and anger should be directed at the rules and regulations that turn fathers into guardians of death and the drafters who should have realized that even a minute's delay may be the difference between life and death.
It would have been one thing if the death of the 19-year-old student happened due to a mistake by the school but to say that our man-made rules are causing death is a cause of great concern.
Our daughters' lives are in danger and we should not tie the life of a human being to an obsolete bureaucracy.
