Maldives Teachers' Association has stated that bullying teachers is a common occurrence at Addu High School, adding that the school's management has failed at maintaining student discipline. 

The association released a statement in response to the recent video that surfaced of a fight between a teacher and a student at Addu High School. 

In the statement, the association said it is unacceptable to defame a teacher for defending other students, whose rights are equal to those of the student involved in the altercation. 

The association warned that punishing teachers without examining the full incident or student misconduct of this nature drives competent teachers out of the profession. 

The association said that as per their findings, several incidents of bullying and harassing teachers has occurred at Addu High School previously as well.

The statement noted that such incidents are frequent at the school, and failure to take action against offending students left the teacher stressed, forced to defend others, and ultimately facing reputational damage on social media. 

The association said that the altercation between the teacher and student occurred when the teacher attempted to take the student's mobile phone from him because he was casting an indecent video on the classroom's screen. 

The association said that one of the key takeaways from their review of the case is that the school's management has utterly failed in managing students and their discipline. The association stated that they do not accept teachers being vilified for incidents arising from this failure. 

The association cited the absence of a phone-use policy and the allowance of mobiles in class as evidence of poor management, noting this leniency enables students to misuse devices for inappropriate activities. 

The association pointed out that even in more developed countries, although phones can be taken to school, they cannot be used in classrooms. Students must leave their phones at a designated place before proceeding to lessons in class. The association emphasized that a phone-use policy must be enforced in Maldives as well, which should be clearly communicated to students. 

The association called on the ministry to review the incident objectively, and to take necessary action against those found at fault. 

With the video surfacing on social media last Wednesday, the Education Ministry suspended the teacher and reported the matter to police. 

The video also shows the student hitting the teacher. This led to public concerns about action being taken against the teacher alone. 

Subsequently, on Thursday, the ministry suspended the student as well, conditioning that he undergo a behaviour modification program and issue an apology.