School head suspended after students assault teachers

The prefect of the Rive Gauche Athenaeum in Laeken in Brussels has been suspended following incidents last week when three teachers were hospitalised.

The incident took place last Friday, when a number of students ran riot in the school's corridors. One teacher who stepped out of her class to demand quiet had the door slammed on her, leading to a broken arm and facial injuries. Another teacher was knocked to the ground and trampled, sustaining a black eye. A third teacher was not herself attacked, but had to be treated for hyperventilation as a result of shock.

The four youths involved were immediately suspended pending expulsion. Now the school's prefect – the senior administrative official in secondary schools of the French-speaking network – has been suspended by the minister for French-speaking education, Marie-Martine Schyns. He is alleged to have failed to take the necessary disciplinary measures to ensure the safety of his staff – a complaint for which he has already been brought before the minister and had special supervision imposed.

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