Students exhibiting unruly behaviour, assaulting teachers will be suspended: ministry

The Education Ministry has decided that going forward, students who display unruly behaviour and disciplinary issues in school, and those who assault teachers will be placed on suspension. 

With a video emerging on social media of a physical altercation between an expatriate teacher and a student at Addu High School, the ministry suspended the teacher and reported the matter to police. Many raised concerns that no action was taken against the student despite the video showing that the student hit the teacher as well, 

Today, the ministry took disciplinary action against the student. The student has been placed on suspension until he completes a behaviour modification program and issues an apology, the ministry stated. 

Although students were suspended over such disciplinary matters in the past, the practice had been halted until yesterday, a Ministry official said. The ministry has now decided to suspend students if they physically assault teachers or exhibit such behaviour in classrooms, according to the official. 

"We will instruct schools to prioritize discipline and take special measures to prepare students for teaching in the classroom if there are challenging students," the official said.

In the past, teachers also had the authority to suspend students over disciplinary issues. The ministry later brought an end to this practice.