Truth Corner: The Training School Incident…

Ibrahim Shaglawi

Some incidents inside schools reveal an imbalance in the relationship between society, the state, and the law. The incident at the Training School in the Third District of Karari Locality went beyond a dispute between a teacher and a parent to become a matter of public concern that touches upon the sanctity of the school, the dignity of the teacher, the safety of the student, the authority of the law, and the use of weapons inside an institution that is supposed to be a symbol of security and discipline.

According to a statement by the Sudanese Teachers’ Committee and the General Union of Education Workers, a teacher was assaulted inside the school premises and while performing his duties, which undermines the dignity of the teacher and the sanctity of the educational institution. On the other hand, the student’s father, retired Major General Adel Al-Tayeb Al-Amin, said in a statement that the incident began after his 14-year-old son was beaten by one of the teachers, and that his arrival at the school following a call from his son developed into a confrontation during which he acknowledged drawing his weapon, before the school principal intervened and the situation ended, according to his account, with the teacher apologizing in his office.

Here, the truth should not be lost between two conflicting accounts. The assault on the student, if its details are proven, requires accountability, and violence cannot be a means of education. At the same time, assaulting a teacher inside the school, drawing a weapon, and making threats cannot be justified by anger or reaction. A mistake does not give its perpetrator the authority to commit a greater mistake, and a grievance does not turn an individual into an extrajudicial authority.

But the essence of the issue is that it reveals a flaw in the administrative process for resolving disputes. In a modern state, a problem begins with a complaint, then an investigation, then accountability—not with a slap, a threat, or a weapon. When the family bypasses the school administration, the school exceeds its professional responsibility, and everyone bypasses the law, a small dispute becomes a mirror reflecting a larger crisis.

Here lies the more dangerous dimension. Since April 2023, the war has produced an environment in which weapons have become widespread, confidence in institutions has declined, and the civilian and military spheres have become intertwined, to the point that the logic of force has become present in disputes. The danger is that the war may end while its culture remains alive. Drawing a weapon inside a school is not merely a security violation; it undermines the state’s monopoly over legitimate force and raises an important question: Who possesses the authority to settle disputes when the will of citizens comes into conflict?

The school is the most dangerous arena for this imbalance, as it is the first space where a child learns the meaning of order and law. If the child sees force settling disputes, it destroys what education builds over years. Likewise, the absence of security for the teacher and the student empties education of its mission. Nevertheless, the Karari incident does not mean the absence of the state. It coincided with the graduation of a specialized course by the Gezira Police for family and child protection, attended by 30 male and female trainees, reflecting the government’s direction toward developing protection systems.

But the challenge is to transform this awareness from police training into a preventive system that begins before a problem occurs, with the importance of rules that protect the child, regulate the relationship between the teacher and the parent, and establish an early intervention system. Here, this incident becomes a test of the integration of roles: the police protect, education teaches, the family follows up, and the school contains, so that the child’s safety becomes a shared responsibility of all parties.

Therefore, school protection must become part of facility security and reconstruction, as education is an investment in people, and the teacher is an essential partner in shaping the future. Accordingly, the school should be governed by clear rules: the teacher has the right to teach and guide without violence or humiliation; the parent has the right to follow up and demand an investigation without using force or bringing weapons; and the student has the right to safe education, dignity, and protection, in return for the obligation to respect the teacher and the school system. The stability of this balance is the protection of the educational and pedagogical process.

These responsibilities can only be completed through clear measures: effective complaint mechanisms, transparent investigations, legal protection for teachers and students, a ban on weapons inside schools, and the activation of child protection and early intervention. The state is required to prevent the causes of incidents, rather than merely punishing those who commit them. Here, education intersects with the project of transitioning from the logic of war to development, for there can be neither a productive economy nor human capital in a society where disputes are settled by force. Therefore, the Training School incident must be treated as a public issue requiring truth and justice, not revenge or polarization, and as an opportunity to establish a simple principle: everyone, regardless of their position or rank, is subject to the law.

According to #Truth_Corner, the Training School incident should not be viewed as a dispute between a teacher and a parent, but rather as a test of the concept of the state and the rule of law. The teacher may make a mistake, the student may be wronged, and the father may become angry, but the arbiter must be the law, not force. If Sudan is preparing for a post-war phase, it must begin rebuilding the culture of the state from the school: a safe student, a respected teacher, a responsible parent, a protected institution, and a law that applies to everyone.

Wishing you health and well-being

Tuesday, August 11, 2026Shglawi55@gmail.com