Majeedhiyya teacher leaves Maldives after threats of attack

The school teacher, who was suspended after a physical clash with a student, has left the Maldives after a gang threatened him.

The clash between the teacher, who is an Indian national teaching Mathematics at Majeedhiyya School, and the student occurred last Sunday. According to witnesses on the scene, the student had barged into the teacher's classroom without permission and began to harass the other students, prompting the teacher to attempt to make him leave. Allegedly the student had attacked the teacher at this point and the latter, in self-defense, had struck him, causing the student to grow more violent and chase after the teacher with a wooden stick and a pair of scissors, threatening to kill him. The fight was broken up by other teachers.

Following the violence, the Ministry of Education had sent the Indian teacher a suspension notice. The development had prompted the local teachers at the school to go on strike Tuesday. Ministry officials had visited the school to discuss the problem, and they had requested the suspended teacher to be present at the ministry on Wednesday to further investigate the issue.

However, the student involved in the clash had allegedly led a gang to the teacher's residence on Tuesday afternoon and attempted to attack him again. The act was prevented by Majeedhiyya School teachers and parents of the students that had rushed to the scene. Following the incident, the teacher had been temporarily shifted to the house of one of the parents with the help of the police.

The teacher left for India later the same day. Some teachers of Majeedhiyya explained that he had left as he had not been assured of his safety even until the next day, when he is supposed to meet the ministry officials.

Mihaaru understands that despite his departure, his employment contract with Majeedhiyya still stands. Some teachers said that the school had asked the teacher to resign but Mihaaru was unable to confirm this claim.

The student involved in the attack is in the tenth grade and has a previous record of violence. He had threatened a teacher with a knife in 2017, and so far this year he has attacked the school counselor and a security guard.

It remains unclear whether any actions were taken against him.