MADINAH, 3 April — Classes were disrupted at the Abdul Aziz ibn Marwan Secondary School in Thamd, Khyber, some 130 kilometers north of Madinah, on Sunday as teachers refused to work in protest against the attack on their colleagues by a group of students Saturday evening.
More than 300 students are enrolled at the school and on Saturday about 60 of them attacked 10 teachers. The condition of one of the teachers is so serious that he remains in the emergency ward of a local hospital. The injuries of the other teachers were treated and they were released.
Some of the students allegedly involved in the attack are being questioned by the police.
Madinah Governor Prince Muqrin has ordered the arrest of the students who assaulted the teachers and also that the investigation be expedited. The prince visited the teacher in hospital and assured him that the status “of a teacher cannot be debased by such acts of which Saudi society does not approve in any form.”
The governor said the incident was completely outside the scope of education and he further affirmed that those who commit such acts would be punished.
Bahjat Junaid, director of education in the province, barred the students involved in the attack from both the first and second term examinations.
He also issued orders that the school principal should be relieved of his duties and transferred to another location.
The cause of the violence was reportedly the teacher’s description of a troublemaking student as “uncivilized” on Wednesday. The teacher later apologized though other students were not mollified and they harassed the teacher on Saturday.
The teacher was chased from his class into the school yard and was saved from being beaten by the principal’s intervention.
On Saturday afternoon as the teachers were returning to Madinah, a group of students blocked the road and demanded the offending teacher be handed over to them. The teachers refused and two of their cars were damaged. A fight ensued during which four teachers were injured.
