Note: This video has been intentionally blurred by Gulf News to protect the identities of the minors that feature within it.
Dubai: A video of a teacher violently slapping a student in a public school in Ajman has gone viral, prompting the Ministry of Education to intervene.
The video, which seems to be taken by another student in the class, shows a teacher forcefully hitting the student at the back of his head, then slapping him on the right cheek.
The student used his hands to try to stop the teacher while screaming at the teacher and asking him to stop.
The video, which started circulating among UAE residents on Tuesday, became the most trending topic in the UAE on Wednesday, with the hashtag in Arabic meaning teacher_hitting_student being tweeted thousands of times.
The tweets mostly criticised the teachers’ actions with many users asking officials to take action against the teacher in the video. Related story: Social media reactions to video
Commenting on the incident the Minister of Education Hussain Al Hammadi said the ministry rejects all forms of outdated methods of corporal punishment that are contrary to the traditions and customs of the society of the UAE.
Al Hammadi said the ministry suspended the teacher and has formed a committee to investigate the incident.