Cairo: A Saudi teacher died of a heart attack minutes before the start of end-of-year exams at a primary school in south-western Saudi Arabia, local media reported.
Omar Mesahli passed away Thursday at the Amr bin Qais School in Al Aridhah governorate in the Jizan region while he was preparing exam papers, Saudi news portal Sabq said.
The local education authorities announced Meshali’s death and offered condolences to his family.
He is the second teacher to die in Al Aridhah during the current academic year.
Earlier, Nayef Al Khaliui, an Arabic teacher, passed away and his family discovered his death when they attempted to awaken him in the morning to go to school.
Last August, another teacher, named Bandar Abdul Aziz, died at a school in the Saudi Mecca region.
The death of Bandar, a dedicated physical education teacher, occurred on the first day of the academic year.
In recent months, social media captured the dedication of several schoolteachers in Saudi Arabia.
A teacher recently hosted a banquet for her schoolchildren to mark the end of their school year.
A video circulating on social media shows a group of boys gathering around food as the female teacher is serving them reportedly in the border city of Arar in northern Saudi Arabia.
In a separate incident reflecting a strong bond to the classroom, social media reports said a Saudi teacher in the kingdom’s Eastern Province looked anguished due to the end of his school stint. A video purportedly shows the man in tears as he bids farewell to his students in the eastern city of Al Jubail.
In August, more than 6 million students started their school year across Saudi Arabia. The three-semester year was spread over 38 weeks and featured 60-day different holidays.
The third semester started on March 3. The final day of school tests is scheduled for June 10, six days before the beginning of the Islamic Eid Al Adha or Feast of Sacrifice.
