A mother has filed a police complaint alleging a teacher at a Paphos primary school pulled, pushed and tripped her six-year-old son, causing facial injuries and bleeding, on 15 January.
The mother claims the incident went far beyond a simple slap. Fully adopting her child’s account, she alleges the teacher pulled the Year 1 pupil by his hand, pushed him and tripped him, causing him to hit a classmate’s desk.
The impact left him injured under the eye with bruising, whilst his lips broke internally and bled, the mother told Sigma TV.
According to the complaint, the teacher then lifted the child again by his hand, held him and confined him at the board, preventing him from going to management for help or cleaning the blood. The child escaped through another classroom door and ran for assistance, the mother said.
The school telephoned the mother saying her son had been injured and she must come immediately to collect him. Despite repeated questions, she didn’t grasp the injury’s severity until she arrived and found the child seriously beaten, she said. She immediately notified her husband.
The mother alleges the same teacher assaulted another child. A student ran to ask for help from the class supervisor, who went to the classroom and met the mother’s child on the way, helping to rinse the blood.
The incident was triggered because the child “got up from his seat and went to sit at another desk”, according to the mother.
Police have taken a statement from the child. The Education Ministry has been informed. The teacher continues teaching normally at the school, the mother said, whilst her child remains at home, afraid. She is requesting the teacher’s removal so her son can return to normal life.
Giorgos Giallouridis, a primary education officer at the Education Ministry’s Paphos office, confirmed to philenews that a complaint exists from the mother about an incident between a teacher and her child. He went to the primary school today to begin investigating the complaint and confirmed parents have filed a police complaint.