Authorities must take more steps to curb violence at schools: MDP

The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party has called on the state to take tackle the rising number of violence at local schools.

A statement released on Wednesday, following the physical altercation between a teacher and student at Majeedhiyya School on Tuesday, the party said that the government’s method of regulation paves way for such violence.

“The Ministry of Education handling matters that should ordinarily be dealt with individually by local schools has caused management bodies of these schools to lose power to deal with such matters effectively” the statement said.

The party condemned Majeedhiyya School’s decision to take action against the teacher before doing so against the student, who has had a history of violence.

The statement says that there has been a recent increase in violence at local schools and such acts have most commonly been among students who part of the state’s ‘Dhasvaaru’ program, a special initiative that gives students training in a number of different courses.

The party said that the attitude of differentiating between students and treating them separately based on their skill-level serves to isolate and alienate them.

MDP called on the state to ensure that such incidents do not recur and to establish an environment conducive to proper education at local schools.

While MDP had not mentioned the aforementioned student’s violent past, local media outlets have reported on it. The tenth-grade student is reported to have threatened a teacher with a knife in 2017, and in separate incidents attacked a school counselor and security guard.