The Education Ministry condemned on Sunday the attack on a teacher at Hashachar
junior high school in Hod Hasharon, which occurred Friday.
A student’s
father beat a teacher at the school on Friday for confiscating his son’s
cellphone during class.
The teacher, who declined to speak to the media,
had taken the device after catching the student using it during a lesson. At the
end of the last period on Friday, the student’s father came to school and
confronted the teacher by violently beating him and dragging him into the
hallway.
Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar addressed teachers nationwide in
a letter on Sunday in which he wrote, “I take very severely and seriously any
act of violence, especially violence against teachers and
educators.”
“The education system has set the safety of everyone in
education institutions as a central objective,” he continued. “The mission to
promote a safe environment and prevent violence is a common mission for everyone
in an educational institution and in the community in general. It requires the
contribution of the entire education system, including parents.”
Sa’ar
explained that he sees parents as significant partners in promoting school
safety. He noted that the ministry is preparing a circular which is set to be
published soon, and he has instructed that the document be updated with a
chapter on violence in schools.
The chapter will address relationships
between parents and educators and the measures to be taken in cases where
parents cross boundaries and hurt the authority of teachers.
“I urge
teachers, parents, students and student councils to speak out against any form
of violence both within schools and outside of them,” he
concluded.
Education Ministry director- general Dalit Stauber said in an
interview with Reshet Bet on Sunday that while she strongly condemns the attack,
this is an unusual event which is not representative of what is happening in
schools overall.
Stauber added that the ministry fully supports the
teacher who “exercised his authority and did the right thing by taking the
phone.”
“Phones are not part of the classroom,” she stressed. “Students
are clearly asked to turn them off in class.”
Sa’ar spoke with the
Hashachar teacher on Sunday morning to express his support and said he hopes to
see him return to work shortly.
The ministry is working with the school
on filing a restraining order against the parent, who was arrested by police
following the event.
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