Punishment of a Qayni Student Reaches Education Commission of Parliament

Following the publication of images showing the punishment of a Qayni student on social media, Davood Mohammadi, the Vice Chairman of the Education Commission of Parliament, announced on Thursday, February 26, that an investigation will be conducted. According to the website 'Nasim Qayin', students have stated that the published images pertain to a student who was punished for 'low grades'. The father of this rural student confirmed this news to Nasim Qayin, saying, 'Today, as I witnessed my child being beaten, I thought that if he drops out of school, it would be better than being beaten like this and losing his dignity in front of his friends.' With the release of this news and images, Davood Mohammadi promised that the commission would follow up on the matter. Mr. Mohammadi told the House of the Nation news agency, affiliated with the Islamic Consultative Assembly, that 'corporal punishment of students is against regulations and law and causes public concern and anxiety among students' families.' He added, 'We will definitely investigate this matter and demand accountability from the officials.' The father of the punished student told Nasim Qayin that corporal punishment had previously occurred in this school 'but no one has addressed it.' The brother of another punished student also stated: 'My brother received a low exam score, and his teacher brutally beats him and several of his classmates, and we will definitely pursue this matter and will file a complaint.' Meanwhile, Rezaei, the head of the Qayin Education Department, confirmed this punishment and announced the summons of the offending teacher and the school principal and vice-principal to the Education Department, stating that action would be taken against the offenders. According to the head of the Qayin Education Department, this case has been immediately sent to the Administrative Violations Board of South Khorasan Province. Previously, following reports about the transfer of a Shirazi student to the hospital after being physically punished by his teacher, the head of public relations for the Fars Education Department stated on November 5 that the case of the 'offending teacher' had been sent to the Administrative Violations Board of the province. Hamidreza Shahbani added that a teacher in one of the vocational schools in Shiraz hit a student in the chest with a fist on November 1, and the student felt severe pain in the chest and was taken to the hospital. He added that this student 'did not face any specific problems' and was discharged from the hospital. According to Mr. Shahbani, the reason for the corporal punishment of this student was that he, along with three other students, entered the class late after the teacher had started the lesson. Prior to this, reports of corporal punishment of students had been published in the provinces of Zanjan, Tehran, Sistan and Baluchestan, Golestan, and Kerman. According to Rahim Mir Shahvold, the Director General of Performance Evaluation and Complaint Response of the Education Department, a total of 1,924 complaints regarding corporal punishment were registered in the years 2014 and 2015, of which 1,274 were 'valid'.