Teacher banned from the classroom after hitting pupil with a ruler

A teacher has been banned from teaching for life after hitting a pupil with a ruler.

Farooq Ahmed, 58, was handed a police caution and banned from teaching indefinitely after striking an unidentified pupil on 24 November 2023, at Oasis Academy Lister Park in Bradford.

He was also found guilty of pushing and kicking a chair on which a second pupil had been sitting.

The incident was recorded on CCTV from inside the classroom and reviewed after two female students approached the school’s assistant principal about the assault. It had been less than three months since Mr Ahmed began teaching on 1 September that year at Oasis Academy.

He was suspended from his role on 27 November.

West Yorkshire Police subsequently handed the veteran teacher a conditional caution for assault by beating, contrary to section 39 Criminal Justice Act 1988. That same day, on 15 January 2024, he resigned from his role as a teacher at the school.

An investigation by the Teaching Regulation Agency, concluded last month, has since found that Mr Ahmed “fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession.”

“The panel was satisfied that the conduct of Mr Ahmed involved breaches of the responsibilities and duties set out in statutory guidance ‘Keeping children safe in education’,” the report concluded.

“The panel finds that the conduct of Mr Ahmed fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession.”

Mr Ahmed denied during the investigation that he hit the pupil, saying that a ruler he was holding at the time “may have brushed” the student’s hand.

But the panel found that the CCTV contradicted Mr Ahmed’s claims, showing clearly that the teacher had made a “deliberate flicking movement of the ruler” towards the pupil.

The panel’s findings stated: “The panel carefully observed the CCTV footage and towards the end of the footage noted that Mr Ahmed flicked a ruler, which appeared to make contact with Pupil B’s arm.

“Shortly before, the ruler had been taken by Mr Ahmed from a pupil sat nearby. Prior to this occurring, the panel noted that Mr Ahmed appeared to be in an agitated state in the confrontational manner in which he moved around the classroom, standing unnecessarily close to the pupils whilst demanding the School’s equipment from them.”

Despite being later apologetic, the panel found that Mr Ahmed proved a considerable risk to the teaching profession and barred him from teaching indefinitely. He is entitled to request a review of the prohibition order after two years.