A Dubai teacher is being investigated by police over allegations she gagged one of her pupils with tape. Mehdi and Farsi Tavakoli, parents of eight-year-old Arian, say their son has repeatedly suffered at the hands of a female teacher and her discipline at Al Mawakeb School in Al Barsha.
The German couple claim the youngster was the victim of physical abuse that culminated in parcel tape being placed over his mouth to stop him chatting to classmates during a lesson last week. And it was only from Arian’s school pals that the couple discovered their son had been gagged as a punishment for talking in class. Mr Tavakoli said: “I accompanied my son to a birthday party at which the mother of two other students talked to me about what happened in Arian’s class.”
Arian’s parents were told that, on February 10, he was repeatedly ordered to be quiet in a lesson before the teacher allegedly covered the schoolboy’s mouth with tape. Mrs Tavakoli said: “That day Arian had come home with blood on his collar. When we asked him about what had happened, he did not respond and walked up to his room. Arian’s attitude all made sense when we found out. “We found out that when the teacher took the duct tape off his mouth, she had done it in such an angry manner that she injured our son’s lip and caused him to bleed.”
The Tavakolis say that Arian has been affected emotionally by the incident and have removed him from the school. “He is afraid of everything, he doesn’t talk now,” his mum said. One parent, whose seven-year-old daughter was in the lesson, said: “This is no way to treat children and inspire them to learn. “It makes me fear for the welfare of my own children.” The parent confronted the teacher about what happened and claims she was met with a blasé response. “The teacher was completely open about what happened - as if it was acceptable,” she said.
The school was contacted by 7DAYS last week and refused to comment on the allegations. Further calls and emails were submitted to the school yesterday but no-one responded. Dubai Police confirmed they had received a complaint. A spokesman said: “The parents made an official complaint... We are in the primary stages of investigating this issue.” The couple are looking for a new school for Arian and have also submitted a complaint to the department of education.