Kuwait: Teacher Fined $16,000 for Assaulting Schoolboy

Cairo: A Kuwaiti court has mandated a teacher to pay KD5,001 ($16,219) in preliminary damages to the parents of a schoolboy, following the teacher’s conviction for physically assaulting the child. The court’s decision is rooted in an incident where the teacher, employed at an elementary school, reportedly slapped the student and directed verbal insults towards him.

The awarded damages aim to provide compensation for both the moral and physical harm inflicted upon the child. The court’s verdict solidified the teacher’s culpability, with the boy’s lawyer, Mustafa Mula Youssef, asserting that the assault caused “grave harm and extreme grief” to the child.

Youssef emphasized that the teacher’s responsibility for the unlawful act was clearly established during the court proceedings. “This means he (the teacher) is responsible for the incident, and consequently my client’s right to compensation, covering both material and moral damages sustained,” explained the lawyer.

Details concerning the boy’s age and the specific timeline of the incident were not disclosed in the available information.

It is noteworthy that corporal punishment in schools is strictly prohibited in Kuwait. The court’s decision comes amid a series of reported incidents related to school violence in the country.

In a separate incident earlier in the week, Kuwaiti teachers accused the brothers of a student of physically assaulting them within the school premises. Allegedly, the altercation ensued after the student was instructed to inform his parents about his misbehavior and absenteeism. Instead, the student notified his brothers, who subsequently arrived at the school and reportedly verbally and physically assaulted several school employees.

“The student’s brothers assaulted the school staff inside the school,” stated another teacher. “And when the teachers and administrators went to the hospital to obtain medical reports, they were attacked again,” he added. These incidents underscore the broader challenges surrounding school violence, necessitating a comprehensive approach within Kuwait’s educational framework.