Repeated violence among teachers and students at Saudi schools has led the Ministry of Education to hire security guards for 30,000 schools.
The ministry announced on Saturday it had issued a tender for a private company to provide security services for schools in large cities from the beginning of the 2014-15 school year in response to the increase in violent behaviour.
In September, Jazan secondary school teacher Muhammad Barnawi was stabbed to death by a student, while there have been numerous other incidence of fights involving weapons as well as teachers physically abusing children.
The violence has sparked a debate in the kingdom about who is responsible for discipline as well as teachers’ heavy workloads.
Minister of Education Prince Faisal Bin Abdullah last month commissioned an investigation, with a specialised team to report on the motives behind each attack and to make suggestions to prevent similar incidences in the future.
The security guards will be deployed to 12,600 primary schools, 7225 intermediate schools, 4372 high schools, 392 specialist schools, 1696 private schools and 3000 adult education schools.
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