Teachers Resort to Abuse of Students

She added, “The ministry is monitoring the school's compliance with educational systems that prevent violence.”

In Maysan governorate, where the incident occurred, the investigative committee formed by the Directorate of Education on March 26 decided to dismiss the principal.

In the wake of the incident, writer and researcher in social affairs, Sabah Kazem, told Al-Monitor, “There are many teachers in Iraq who think that students become obedient when they are beaten and treated in a violent way, and then start studying and doing homework. All calls to prevent violence in the educational system in Iraqi schools have failed.”

Nazem Alyawi, the principal of Mandali primary school in Babil, south of Baghdad, condemned physical punishment of students and told Al-Monitor, “Some teachers think this is the right way, and that it works for mischievous students to force them to study and obey the rules.”

Social researcher Ahlam al-Khafaji objected, saying, “Violence has psychological effects on the abused student, and it instills the spirit of violence, making it seem like the right way to solve problems in the future.”

She added, “Violence in schools, in addition to domestic violence, breeds a generation that believes in aggressive behavior as the only way to obtain its rights.”

In the same context, one of the main incidents in a series of violence events at schools was the death of a primary school student on March 17, 2014, a month after he went into a coma after being beaten with a metal rod by the school principal in south Amarah, 380 kilometers south of Baghdad.