A TEACHER suspended for hitting a student in class is back at work, the Examiner has learned.

Kirklees College student Omar Abdullah Karimi was slapped and shoved out of a classroom by a female teacher after the incident in 2008.

The event has only just come to light after Mr Karimi spoke out for the first time.

Mr Karimi, an Iranian asylum seeker, who is still learning English at the college, came to The Examiner after he discovered the teacher had been re-instated.

Recalling the incident, the 19-year-old said he had not been to the police because he was told the teacher wasn’t coming back.

Mr Karimi, whose English is very limited, said the teacher had become very angry when he had been unable to follow instructions in class.

He said: “She told me to copy some words down.

“She came to me and said: ‘Why aren’t you writing it?’.

“I said: ‘I can’t.

“She said: ‘Why are you not writing?’ and slapped me and then shoved me into the door.

“She was swearing a lot.

“I told the manager and he got rid of the teacher, but now she is back.”

Mr Karimi, who lives on Leeds Road, also claimed the incident had aggravated a shoulder problem he had and is continuing to struggle with today.

A spokesman for Kirklees College confirmed the incident had occurred on November 6, 2008.

He said the teacher was suspended but returned in March 2009 and was then re-trained.

Melanie Brooke, the college’s vice principal, said: “The college deals seriously with incidents of this nature.

“We have policies and procedures in place which were rigorously followed in this particular case.

“The tutor in question has been fully retrained and integrated back in to the college, working in a different department.

“Without going into details of what is an individual case, the college wishes to reassure the community that all the necessary steps have been taken to ensure the safety of all students.”

Kirklees College, formerly Huddersfield Technical College, offers GCSEs and vocational courses for students aged 16 and above.

It also has a range of adult education courses and evening classes.

Last month the college has had £800,000 slashed from its adult education budget and fears are rising that many evening classes will be axed next September.

But £70m plans to move the college from its current New North Road campus to a brand new site at Chapel Hill are still planned.

Work on the Waterfront Quarterproject began last year.