Teachers attacked outside school premises by students or their families must lay charges with the police, a senior Education Ministry official said here recently.

Hamad Al-Sheikh, deputy minister for boys, said that school authorities would deal with any attacks inside school premises. However, attacks outside schools would have to be taken up in the courts, he was quoted as saying in a local publication recently.

Al-Sheikh and other education officials were speaking recently at an open dialogue session with school principals from around the country. The other officials included Noura Al-Fayez, deputy minister for girls, and Haya Awwad, undersecretary for girls.

“Any violent assault on teachers outside the school premises is considered a personal attack, which must be taken up with the security authorities. But if the attack or assault occurred inside the school premises we will apply the applicable regulations in this regard,” said Al-Sheikh.

He urged teachers who have been abused to file lawsuits and insist on punishment for the offenders. However, the principals present were reportedly unhappy with these comments.

Al-Sheikh said 56 percent of civil servants in the country work in the education sector, which made it difficult to merge the education and higher education ministries.

“We may need detailed studies conducted by international think-tanks, especially since the merger targets two of the largest civil service institutions in the Kingdom in terms of its employees and students,” he said.

He said the public education system involves 730,000 male and female teachers and administrators, 45 education departments, 250 education offices, and 27 universities with more than 50,000 faculty members and 150,000 employees of both sexes.

Al-Fayez said teachers in the Kingdom enjoy privileges that are not offered in other countries, including reduced hours at schools. Al-Sheik said the ministry’s performance tests are similar to those operational in advanced countries.