This Is Why a 17-Year Student Brutally Stabbed His Teacher

Because of the continuous political crisis in Tunisia, the situation is getting worse everyday. This time, the victim is a Professor who was near to death when his student stabbed him many times until he lost consciousness and fell on the ground.

The 17-year student tried to kill Mr. Sahbi ben Slema, because the latter refused to report his History exam.

According to the local radios like Mosaique FM, the outraged teenager attacked his teacher using a cleaver and a knife.

This dramatic incident sparked widespread condemnation of the whole Tunisian system, pushing teachers to demonstrate and call for their protection.

 

Starting the Killing

Monday, 8 November, 2021 was not a routine day for Professor Sahbi ben Slama as he was brutally attacked by a 17-year-old student in front of his classroom during the afternoon break. The young perpetrator demanded to have another History exam but Mr. Sahbi refused to do so because the student was always skipping classes.

Going back to home, the teen brought a cleaver and a knife and stabbed the Professor causing serious injuries in different parts of his body then he ran away. Mr Sahbi was immediately taken to the hospital to undergo seven urgent surgeries, according to Mosaique FM.

According to the Assistant Undersecretary of the Republic and the official spokesperson for the Ben Arous Court, the judicial police services in Hammam Al-Anf succeeded in arresting the student hours after the cruel attack.

In his interview with Shems FM, the Minister of Education, Fathi Al-Salouti, said that he “was not surprised by the attack because this happens everyday, whether for the teachers or the students, they are both threatened,” stressing that the attack is brutal and that what happened should be a starting point to reform the educational system.

The Minister added that the incident “cannot be criminalised, because the student himself is a victim and I am sure that he consumed a drug in front of school.”

 

Political Failure Results

Both the teacher and the student are victims of a weak and corrupt system that still suffers from developed countries’ neo-colonialism. Hapering and weakening educational system is part of dominating the people and grabbing power because an aware and civilized society frightens the heads of the counter-revolutions.

They are trying hard to ruin democracy and the freedom of expression through media which represents a danger before and after revolutions.

This is confirmed by the University Aggregate Professor in Arab civilization Ghada Tlili Brahmi, in her interview with Al-Estiklal in which she comments on the stabbing incident saying that “the recent attack is not an isolated incident, but rather an expected result of years of failure to manage the educational system and media mobilization, that rose to the rank of criminality against teachers, so the incident was the culmination of all this already rotten path, which has worsened since the recent political events.​

"The media, the double-edged sword, has a central role in exempting society and education."

The professor added: “Since the revolution, it has been in the hands of a group that has controlled Tunisian society, a minority claiming freedom, has spoiled and transformed acts of violence into heroism and crime into virtue. A group that is unfamiliar to our traditions and our religion.”

Ghada also added that “our society is nourished by the poisons of the media, which today, after the catastrophe of democracy in Tunisia, has become more fierce in its obfuscation and fallacy, and it has brought us back to the starting point.”

“The politicians' preoccupation with all the failed struggles, trying today to polish the image of error, made them see no future, in fact schools turned into homes for drugs and strange behaviors, and the incident is nothing but a terrible culmination of years of societal hatred against the teacher, a child who hears every day on the radio, television and at home all kinds of insults about the teacher, it is logic for him to see this teacher as a problem that he wants to solve” the Professor concluded.

 

Any Solutions

Commenting on this cruel attack, Psychologist Nouman Bouchrika said in his interview with Tunisian African Press (TAP) that the lack of materials in the public pedagogical system focused on morals and values has led to the deviation of schools from their educational role, considering that this is the responsibility of all parties in order to fight violence.

Education sectors announce a general strike on Friday, November 12, 2021, in order to pass a law criminalizing violence against teachers and preserving the sacredness of the educational establishment.

However, strikes are never the right solution to rebuild and reform educational systems and raise awareness among generations.

Everyone agrees that corruption erodes trust in government and undermines the social contract. This is cause for concern across the globe, but particularly in contexts of fragility and violence like the cruel attack of the Professor. Indeed, it supports the inequalities and discontent that lead to fragility, violence and extremism so fighting corruption with education is a major challenge for all societies for a future away from tyranny and crimes.

The authority in Tunisia must abandon its arrogance and its perception that Tunisian system is the strongest educational system in the Arab world, and start immediately to reform the whole system from the bottom, the solution is rather boosting morals and love in the hearts of these teenagers and reinforcing the principles of Islam, otherwise you will have dozens of ben Slama.