VietNamNet Bridge – Over two thirds of 791 Da Nang students aged 12-13 said they were violently punished by teachers when they made errors at school, a survey has reported.

Thirty-four per cent of those surveyed said teachers often punished them by slapping their face and wrist, while 33 per cent were hit with objects.— Photo webtretho

Thirty-four per cent of those surveyed said teachers often punished them by slapping their face and wrist, while 33 per cent were hit with objects.

"It's an alarming figure," said Nguyen Minh Hung, deputy director of the city's education and training department at a review on gender equality and prevention of violence on Thursday, Oct 10.

"At least 260 school-girls said they were victims of physical violence at school," he stressed.

The survey, which was part of the Da Nang Gender Equity and Primary Prevention of Gender-based Violence Project, was carried out last year at 10 junior secondary schools by the city's department of education and training and Spanish International NGO Pazy Desarrollo.

It also found that nearly 90 per cent of students could not talk about sex with parents, teachers or friends, while 50 per cent kept silent about violations at school and in society.

Under the title Hanh Trinh Yeu Thuong (The Love Journey), the project aims to raise awareness among 12 and 13-year-old students of gender-based violence and guide children on how to manage emotions, peacefully resolve conflicts and promote gender equality.

Da Nang is the first city in Viet Nam to carry out the 2012-14 pilot project, which hopes to create positive environments in schools for gender violence prevention and mitigation through advocacy among students, teachers, student clubs, and policy makers.

Communication Programme Manager Benjamin Swanton said the project would help uncover violence and gender inequality towards students and prevent the problem.

"There are factors causing gender violence, including student bullies and punishments given by teachers, or school-boys against girls," he said.

"Students who witnessed domestic violence in their childhood are likely to be violent at school. Parents fighting or arguing with each other in the presence of children would lead to violence among kids at school," he said, adding that prevention measures would be recommended to solve the problem.

A pilot curriculum on gender equality and violence prevention, compiled by the Viet Nam Institute of Educational Sciences, has been trialled at 10 schools in Da Nang.

"It's the first time an education programme on gender equality and violence prevention has been introduced in Viet Nam," said deputy director of the Viet Nam Institute of Educational Sciences Nguyen Hoang Yen.

"We hope the programme will be applied in schools nationwide in the near future."

Deputy director of the city's education and training department Nguyen Minh Hung said students would undertake 15 hours study on gender equality and violence prevention during one school week.

"It means students and teachers will have to spend more time on the subject, alongside their traditional studies," he added.

Statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training showed that in the 2011-12 school year, 384 students across 12 provinces were involved in cases of violence.

Source: VNS