Students at a private intermediate school here had to face the unenviable dilemma of either kissing a teacher on the feet to get the questions for the final mathematics paper, or to kiss him on the forehead to get 10 free extra points. The students are from the Al-Bara'a Private School, which means “Innocence” in Arabic. Some students kneeled to kiss the feet of the Syrian math teacher, while others had to get on their toes to kiss the 42-year-old on the forehead. Some really desperate students opted for both. Abdulmohsin, 13, said that the teacher encouraged his students to partake in this bizarre behavior. “I chose to kiss his feet for the exam questions,” he said. “My friend kissed both the teacher's feet and his forehead to get the exam questions and the 10 point bonus,” he said. A student's mother said she would file a complaint with the Ministry of Education. The mother, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “This was a really strange thing. Teachers are supposed to set a good example for their students.” Muhammad Al-Aqeeli, Principal of Al-Bara'a Private School, said that an investigation has been launched into the incident and action will be taken against the teacher. The school will terminate the teacher's contract and ask the authorities for final deportation. “Many concerns had been raised earlier about the teacher. He has developed a bad education record,” Al-Aqeeli said. If questioned by the Ministry of Education, the school will provide all available information about the case, he added.
