VietNamNet Bridge – Parents of Le Quang Vinh, the child, who was maltreated by a nursery school teacher, have decided to sue Tran Thi Xuan Nu, the school teacher, for her behaviour. A lawyer said the teacher may face a three year imprisonment sentence.

Several days ago, Vinh was found suffering from many injuries on his body. The story has been confirmed that Tran Thi Xuan Nu, Vinh’s teacher, confined Vinh in a lift used to carry food and goods. Vinh entered a state of panic, cried for help and hit himself against many parts in the lift and got injured.

Nguyen Hoang Tuan, Head of the Tan Phu district’s police station, said that the investigation agency is discussing with the Supreme People’s Procuracy on some details in the behavior conducted by Nu to determine if the behavior is “deliberately causing injuries” or maltreating other individuals.

Tuan said both the behaviors are subject to a criminal liability investigation.

At present, HCM City’s Forensic Examination Agency has asked Du Thi Thanh Thuy, the mother of Vinh to provide information about the injury level of Vinh during the time Vinh was treated at Nhi Dong 1 Hospital. In addition, there are also reports on the level of injury provided by Cho Ray and Phu Tho Hospitals.

Prior to that, Lawyer Bui Quang Nghiem, when talking to Tuoi Tre newspaper, said that not only Tran Thi Xuan Nu will face the criminal prosecution, but the school, where Nu worked, will have to take civil responsibility for this.

According to the lawyer, the behavior of causing injuries to Le Quang Vinh took place during the school hours, therefore, the school has to pay for damages, including physical and mental.

According to Thuy, during the time when Vinh was hospitalized, the school did not take any actions to report to the local police about the incident. Meanwhile, Dung, the head of the group of teachers that teach Hoa Lan household nursery classes, asked Thuy many times not to make the case public. Dung said that the incident was caused by one teacher, and there was no relation to the school.

On October 30 morning, a meeting was held between the leaders of Hoa Lan private nursery school and parents, where parents said that they wanted classes to run continuously. The parents said the case of Vinh was just an incident occurring with a specific child and caused by a bad teacher.

When asked about how to deal with the household run nursery classes and the existing students, Chung Bich Phuong, a senior official of Tan Phu District’s Education Sub-department said that the agency has found seats at school for 50 students to implement a program on compulsory education for five-year old students. Three state owned schools Hoa Sen, Hoa Anh Dao and Nhieu Loc will receive the students. Meanwhile, the agency has promised to provide letters of introduction, so that parents can send other students to attend the neighboring nursery schools.

The disreputable maltreatment cases in pre-school education

In May 2007, teacher Do Thi Lien, 27, in Hoang Mai district in Hanoi poured ant pesticide into vegetable soup for students, because the teacher was dissatisfied with the school’s headmaster, who asked Lien to stop working as an accountant to work as a teacher. Luckily the students were not harmed.

In December 2007, Nam Thanh Nursery School in Ninh Binh City, forced a teacher Luu Thi Tuyet to stop teaching because she threatened and caused scratches on a student’s face.

The teacher of Luong Minh Hoang, 2, who went to Hoa Hong Nursery School in Lang Son province, invented a new way of abusing her students. The teacher plucked the genitals of a young boy, making it swell. The child was hospitalized later for treatment. Meanwhile, the teacher could not explain her behavior.

In August 2010, a teacher of Quang Trung Kindergarten in Hoan Kiem District, violently slapped a student’s face. The teacher said that there were so many students in the class and everyone was crying, which made her lose temper.

Kieu Oanh