Teachers pay tribute to late colleague who died during online class
Teachers at Al-Nokhba Al-Elmeya School in Dammam, eastern Saudi Arabia, paid tribute and expressed their condolences at the passing of their late Egyptian colleague Mohammed Hassan, who died on Thursday morning while teaching a computer class remotely to secondary-level students.
The school’s principal, Adel Al-Suleiman, told Arab News that everyone was shocked and distraught by the incident.
“The news of his passing is very difficult for the educational family in the Eastern Province, and especially in Al-Nokhba Al-Elmeya School,” he said.
“He came to Saudi Arabia five years ago and specialized in computer science. His family requested that his body be buried in Egypt. We share the family’s grief, and we will fondly remember the man who devoted himself to education,” Al-Suleiman said.
“He was a teacher who worked hard, diligently, and devotedly in order to advance the educational process. He spent the last months before returning to school with his family and relatives in Egypt. Mohammed Hassan taught computing to the intermediate and secondary levels. He was gentle and humble and left a legacy as if one knew him for a long time.” Al-Suleiman said that after the teacher passed away, his deeds and good manners were recalled by his colleagues. Everyone cried, and as soon as his students knew of his death, they started two endowments in his honor, at the Charitable Society for the Memorization of the Holy Qu’ran and the Ehssan
Association.
He stressed that when Hassan’s pupils realized he was struggling during the remote class, they immediately called for help.
“The physics teacher and the art teacher went immediately to Hassan’s residence. Fortunately, they were accompanied by a carpenter, who helped them open the door of the apartment, where they found him dead,” the principal said.
“His death was confirmed after an ambulance arrived and took him to a nearby hospital.”
The director of private education at the General Department of Education in the Eastern Province, Ibrahim Al- Ghasham, told Arab News that Hassan died while delivering knowledge, “which is a good end, especially having spent his life in the service of knowledge.”
Mohammed Al-Sifyan, a teacher at Al-Nokhba Al-Elmeya School, told Arab News that Hassan was a good man and had high morals and a warm smile.
“His relationship with everyone was based on love, and we knew him as a teacher who loved his job, colleagues, and students and was devoted to his work.”
Egyptian teacher Mohammed Hassan came to Saudi Arabia five years ago and specialized in computer science. Hassan taught computing to the intermediate and secondary levels. His family requested that his body be buried in Egypt.