Victoria College School will be run by the Ministry of Education starting Tuesday, October 30, in order to “maintain the stability of students and their education,” Secretary General for Educational Affairs, Mohammad Al-Okour, said on Monday.

Okour noted that the ministry will also be providing students with a team of counsellors to support their psychological needs, after suffering the loss of some of their classmates and teachers in the tragic Dead Sea incident on Thursday, October 25.

The school was briefly suspended after the accident for committing several violations.

The Violations committed by the school

The Public Prosecution launched an investigation into the incident on Thursday, which cost 21 children and adults their lives, and left dozens others injured.

Parents were told that their children would be visiting the Dead Sea, despite notifying the Ministry of Education that they would be visiting ruins in Al Azraq, in the eastern desert of Jordan.

Changing the trip's route without notifying the ministry or taking its permission marked the first violation committed by Victoria College, according to Petra news agency.

The second violation was allowing students from the fourth, fifth and sixth grades to participate in the trip, even though the ministry had only agreed to allow seventh, eighth and ninth graders to go on the trip.

But the third and biggest violation was allowing students to go near swimming areas, which goes against the rules and regulations set by the ministry. In a document recovered by Petra, a paper signed by the school’s Headmistress clearly stated that “students were not to be permitted to swim at any cost.”

Additionally, the ministry had only agreed to allow a maximum of 30 students and two chaperones to go on the trip. They were also told to take two busses. However, the school went against the ministry’s orders and 36 students and seven chaperones went to the Dead Sea, using just one bus to carry them there.