Row in Parliament over Egyptian teacher’s accent

Manama : An MP’s statements about an Egyptian teacher sparked an intense argument with a fellow parliamentarian during the Council of Representatives’ weekly meeting in Gudaibiya yesterday.

While discussing an urgent proposal to provide Bahraini female teachers at Ruqaya Elementary Girls’ School in Galali, MP Mohammed Al Jowder said “the school had no teachers for two months and the administration hired an Egyptian teacher, who could hardly interact with students due to accent differences.”

Naming the woman’s nationality ignited the discussion, as several MPs interrupted Al Jowder’s speech.

Among them was MP Khalid Al Shaer who yelled, “Shame on you. You can’t say this about the people of Egypt. My mother is an Egyptian and I reject this insult to the people of Egypt.”

Al Jowder demanded Speaker Ahmed Al Mulla to “make him quite” so he could explain. He said this while Al Shaer walked out of the hall.

The Council’s Second Deputy Speaker Abdulhaleem Murad said, “This is inappropriate. We learnt from Egyptian teachers and they contributed to our country’s development. He should have said an Arab national, without naming any nationalities.”

Such statements from several MPs cornered Al Jowder, who said he was misunderstood.

“I didn’t mean to offend anyone. All I was trying to convey is that the students find it difficult to understand the substitute teacher’s accent and it’s necessary to provide Bahraini teachers. I apologise for any unintentional offence in my speech,” he clarified.

Al Jowder criticised the Education Ministry by the beginning of his speech saying, “How could the Ministry not know about such an essential matter and why no action was taken in such a long period?”

The discussion ended by a statement made by Industry and Commerce Minister Zayed bin Rashid Al Zayani, who was representing the government as the Acting Parliament and Information Affairs Minister during the session, as a replacement of Minister Isa bin Abdulrahman Al Hammadi.

Minister Al Zayani requested the council to postpone voting on the proposal so the matter could be clarified with the Education Ministry first. A majority of MPs agreed to this.

Things went back to normal when Al Shaer walked back into the hall. He eventually reconciled with Al Jowder and their laughter echoed in the law-making hall.