Kenneth Glad
Families were told that a pupil had died, only to receive a correction less than two weeks later. The school has promised to reinforce its procedures for checking sensitive information.
A secondary school in Brussels, Belgium, has retracted an announcement about a pupil’s death after checks with police services established that no student death had been recorded.
According to La DH, which obtained the school’s messages, the correction was sent out on July 8. The original message had been sent on June 26 to pupils in the fifth and sixth years of secondary education and their parents.
Those year groups broadly represent the final stages of secondary schooling in Belgium.
The first message presented the reported death as fact. It said a fifth-year pupil had died unexpectedly and expressed sympathy to the pupil’s family, friends, classmates and teachers.
The school also arranged assistance through teaching staff and its pupil counselling service. It later explained that the message had been sent quickly so support could be offered without delay to those affected by what appeared to be a genuine tragedy.
School issues correction
Nearly two weeks later, families were informed that the report was false.
In its second message, the school described the information it had received as exceptionally serious and condemned the anguish caused across the school community.
It acknowledged that the announcement had been sent before all necessary checks were completed. Although the intention was to assist pupils and staff immediately, the claim should first have been confirmed.
In comments reported by La DH, a fifth-year pupil questioned how such a serious announcement could have been released without repeated verification.
The school declined to answer additional questions from La DH. Its counselling service remained available to pupils affected by the original message and its later withdrawal.
The available reporting does not explain where the false information originated or how it reached the school. It also does not establish that police personally contacted the pupil concerned, only that their checks found no record of a student death.
The school said it had learned from the incident and would strengthen its procedures. It promised to check future messages involving sensitive information more thoroughly before sending them to pupils and parents.
Sources: La DH
