Six 'Beaten' Students Transferred to Hospital; Teacher Summoned for 'Convincing Explanation'

According to reports from several Iranian news agencies, a teacher at a secondary school in Isfahan physically assaulted eight students, resulting in six of them being hospitalized due to injuries to their legs and faces. Alireza Mahdi, spokesperson for the Isfahan Education Department, stated that on the morning of Tuesday, February 30, at Jamal High School in the fifth educational district of Isfahan, students were making noise in class when the school counselor entered and issued a warning. Following this warning, a verbal altercation ensued between the teacher and the students, leading to a physical confrontation in which several students were injured. Six students were taken to the hospital, four of whom have been discharged, and two others are expected to be released soon. Additionally, according to Tasnim News Agency, Mahdi commented that while the teacher did engage in a physical confrontation with the students, it was not as severe as portrayed on social media and was mostly verbal. He added that the teacher has been summoned to the Education Department and will face consequences if he cannot provide a convincing explanation, with his case being referred to the Education Disciplinary Committee. Since the beginning of the fall semester and the reopening of schools, there have been reports of physical punishment of students. For instance, last week, IRNA reported that a student named Mehdi Ziadpour was beaten by a literature teacher at Talaghani High School in Meshginshahr and is currently in a coma. However, the principal of Talaghani High School denied the reports of the student's beating. Earlier, Fars News reported that on February 23, at 'Sefidkamar' School in the city of Ijroud in Zanjan Province, after a fight between two students, the school principal, who is the father of one of the students, beat the other student, causing facial injuries, particularly to the eye. A week prior, Iranian news agencies reported that an art teacher at 'Shaheed Khoshbakht' School in Hajabad, Fars Province, severely beat a student, breaking the student's nose and several teeth. On January 6, Majid Amir Timouri, head of the Education Department in Jiroft, confirmed reports of a student being beaten by the principal of 'Shaheed Fariyabi' School in that city, resulting in a torn lip and broken nose and teeth. Reports of student beatings have also emerged from various locations including Mohammadieh in Islamshahr, Shush in Khuzestan Province, 'Sarsamad Shamil' village in Bandar Abbas, Bojnourd in North Khorasan, and Khorramabad in Lorestan Province. Last year, multiple reports of physical punishment of students in Iranian schools were published. However, Rahim Mirshahvold, head of performance evaluation and complaint response at the Ministry of Education, announced that the number of complaints regarding physical punishment of students decreased to 349 last year. According to this report, in 2015, this figure was 675, and in 2014, it was 1,249. Furthermore, Mirshahvold stated that out of a total of 2,138 complaints filed regarding physical punishment of students over the past three years, 1,526 cases, or 65%, were valid, while about 747 cases were deemed 'unjustified and unproven.' Nonetheless, the total number of complaints reported separately by this education official regarding physical punishment of students over the past three years amounts to 2,273. In this context, a government official stated that 50,000 complaints are registered annually in the education sector. The Education Department in Laristan is investigating a report of a student being beaten, while the head of the Education Department in Khodabandeh denied reports of a rural student being assaulted. Experts view the physical punishment of students critically, highlighting the need for reform in educational practices.