VietNamNet Bridge - More Vietnamese educators are speaking rudely to students. A video clip on the internet some days ago shows a teacher of English at a foreign language center insulting two university students during a quarrel about tuition. 

The female teacher was on familiar terms with the two students and described them as ‘uneducated’.

The teacher of English has faced heavy criticism from educators and the public since the day the clip was posted on internet. 

Dr. Tran Xuan Nhi, former Deputy Minister of Education and Training, commented that the words the teacher used and her behavior showed she does not deserves to be a teacher. 

“If the teacher was my employee, I would dismiss her immediately,” he commented.

“Le Na (the teacher) is not competent to be a teacher. Teachers must not use such rude words towards their students,” he said.

The teacher has told the local press that she admitted her behavior was unacceptable for teachers. 

She explained that she lost temper after the male student swore in front of her and other students at the center snatched a paper from her hands. Later, the student sent a threatening email to her and her family.

However, Nhi, after hearing the teacher’s explanation, still said a teacher must not behave this way.

“She should have contacted competent agencies for help when receiving threats. The students behaved badly, but bad behavior must not react to bad behavior,” he said.

Nhi has called on students to refuse to go to training establishments with teachers who do not behave correctly toward students, even though Le Na, as described by many students, is a teacher with good knowledge.

A psychologist in Hanoi noted that Le Na was not the only teacher who had behaved incorrectly toward students. 

“This is quite common in Vietnamese education,” he said. “Vietnamese teachers think they have the right to insult students.”

“It is quite a surprise that,” he noted, “students seem to study with the teachers who behave rudely towards students.”

“Students believe that the teachers ‘have the right to become presumptuous’ because they are good at their job,” he explained. 

A high school student said in 2001 a teacher told a female student: “You are not only bad at learning, but also are as ugly as a monkey.” 

However, the teacher remained famous and his classes were always full of students. Students whispered in each other’s ears that most of his students had passed the university entrance exams.

Ngan Anh