VietNamNet Bridge - Twelve second-graders in Thua Thien – Hue province were hit on the buttocks with ruler in a recent incident.

After discovering that some students made spelling mistakes, Pham Thi Thanh Thao, the head teacher of a class in Thuan Hoa Primary School beat the students black and blue on the buttocks. 

The case was discovered only after Nguyen Thi Ai Dieu, the parent of Pham Trong Viet, one of the beaten students, discovered some bruises on Viet’s buttocks. After Dieu contacted some other parents, she found that many other students also suffered from the teacher’s punishment.

Viet told his mother that the teacher beat six times on his buttocks with a large wooden ruler. He also said that Thao often beat students as punishment for their mistakes. The teacher beat Viet twice since the last year and Viet received 22 lashes and one slap on the face in total.

Dang Thi Nguyet Nga, one of the students, is afraid to go to school because she fears the teacher. 

“I received 10 lashes on my bum because I made a spelling mistake,” she said. 

“The teacher told me not to tell anyone about the lashes, or she will beat me again. I could not cry when I was beaten because I was not allowed to,” she said, explaining why she did not want to go to school.

Bao Tram suffered the most. When the teacher beat Tram, the student shouted for help: “Help me, mama, papa!”. The teacher then told two fifth graders to help her hold Tram’s hands and feet so that she could easily beat Tram.

Dang Thi Dieu Tram, another student, did not make spelling mistakes, but got involved in misfortune. As she smiled when the teacher was beating the classmates, she got a slap in face.

The misconduct of the primary school has raised anger among the public, especially parents. 

“The teacher needs to be heavily punished for her misconduct. She has to bear criminal prosecution,” said Tran Nhu Hoa, a parent in Cau Giay district in Hanoi.

The public has reacted negatively to the teacher’s behavior.

According to Nguyen Huu Dung, head of the Personnel Division of the Huong Tra Commune’s education sub-department, the teacher moved to the Thuan Hoa Primary School after leaving Van Quoc Dong Primary School, where she many times violated teacher ethics.

“The teacher must be dismissed and stopped work as a teacher forever,” said Hoang Hung Viet, a parent in Cau Giay district in Hanoi. 

“I wonder how the teacher would be punished for what she did at Thuan Hoa School. Will she be asked to move to another school where she would once again beat students?” he said.

VTC