Teacher expelled for punching student with cell phone

Manama : A teacher at a public school in the Kingdom hit a student so badly on his head with a mobile phone that he ended up in the hospital with a wound at least one centimetre long. 

The incident came to light when the boy, a fifth-grader, posted a video message detailing the incident on social media platforms, which went viral instantly. 

The incident also resulted in the teacher, who is an Arab national, losing his job permanently, following an investigation into the incident by the Education Ministry. 

According to the video posted online, the incident took place on Tuesday, when the boy and his fellow students went on a school trip to Dohat Arad Park and the Natural Sanctuary in Muharraq. 

As claimed in the footage, the boy was smacked by the teacher, when he was saying ‘hi’ to his father. 

“I was going to say hi to my dad and the teacher hit me with his mobile phone on my head,” the boy claimed in the footage. 

“I started crying and another teacher came and took me to wash my head and face,” he added. 

The boy, in the footage, also claims that the teacher threatened to “expel him from the school if he told anyone about what happened”.

Ministry intervenes 

As the video footage continue to be shared by social media users, the Education Ministry immediately sprang into action by announcing an investigation. 

Two days after the incident, as instructed by the Minister Dr Majid Al Nuaimi, the ministry formed a committee to investigate the claims made by the boy in the footage. 

The committee, in a statement, said, it interrogated all the related parties and recommended to expel the teacher, permanently. 

“The matter has been referred to the Disciplinary Council in the Civil Service Bureau to take appropriate action in accordance with the bureau’s laws and its executive regulations,” the ministry statement said.