AHSA: A group of angry mothers armed with sticks and stones threatened six teachers at the Al-Batha Al-Wasaie Elementary Girls' School, 60 kilometers south of Al-Ahsa, because their daughters had been refused admission. The terrified teachers were forced to remain in their car for more than two hours to avoid any contact with the unpredictable mothers. The driver tried to drive away but the mothers quickly surrounded the car. The school's male guardian tried in vain to convince the mothers that the teachers were not responsible for allowing the school to increase its capacity, and that they would have to take up the matter with officials of the General Administration of Girls' Education in Al-Ahsa. When the mothers would not listen to reason, the police were called in to disperse them. Colonel Zeyad Al-Reqati, the police spokesman in the Eastern Province, said a security patrol rushed to the scene when the incident was reported. He said an investigation is underway and the women have been summoned for questioning. A school management representative told Okaz/Saudi Gazette the school was only opened this year and had a limited capacity. It could not accommodate all the new students from the local village. “We repeatedly tried to explain this to them but they turned a deaf ear [to us].” The representative said village officials have approached officials in Al-Ahsa to push for an increase in the school's capacity. They have asked for more classrooms to be built and for more teachers.
