Public Schools courtyards became a battle field in Bahrain on Tuesday when some of students started chanting anti-Government slogans causing unrest and clashes between students.
A Bahraini student, Marwa Al Awadhi, reportedly got hurt during a fight between pro and anti-government students at Al Ahmed Al Zaher Secondary School for girls.
Marwa, who sustained injuries and was in stable condition, was later visited by the Ministry of Education’s undersecretary for educational affairs and curricula Dr. Abdulla Yusuf Al Mutawa.
Dr Al Mutawa conveyed greetings from Education Minister Dr Majid Al Nuaimi and wished prompt recovery. He stressed the importance of keeping schools away from such sectarian conflicts which put the future of the coming generations at risk. The incident is under investigation.
The Ministry of Education condemned irresponsible behaviour in secondary schools where some students staged a sit-in in the school’s courtyard or went out in marches chanting political slogans and disrupting the normal school day.
The ministry criticized tension among students at Al Ahd Al Zaher Girls Secondary School that ended up in hand clashes, the public relations and information directorate of education ministry said in a statement.
The statement added that the school’s directorate tried to calm the situation by isolating the students, who were once in good terms, to avoid any escalation.
Many secondary schools in the Central and Capital governorates also reported similar incidents. The students there left in marches chanting, apparently already prepared political slogans, the statement revealed adding that these schools’ administrations struggled to keep the situation under control and keep the school day go naturally.
The ministry denounced these regrettable and unprecedented incidents at schools and is calling on teachers and parents to assume their educational and national role by preventing repeat of such behavior.
These acts are likely to harm the sense of national unity among students and the values of love and tolerance the ministry is trying to instill in them through its educational curricular and activities and in line with the Islamic precepts.
The Education Ministry called upon all segments of the civil society to assume their national responsibilities and keep schools clear of political and sectarian conflicts.