VietNamNet Bridge - Educators complain that teaching has become a ‘dangerous profession’ as teachers have to bear too much pressure from superiors and parents.

The report sent to the school's management board

The news that a teacher at Binh Chanh Primary School in Long An province had to kneel to parents to ask for their forgiveness has appeared in all local newspapers.

The scandal is about a decision made by the teacher who asked students to kneel in the class for mistakes they had made. After hearing about the punishment, parents visited the school to meet the teacher, criticized her severely, and forced her to kneel.

In a report sent to the school’s management board, the teacher said she was aware of her error and apologized to students and parents. However, the apology was not accepted.

“You forced my son to kneel though he was not faulty. You also have to kneel because you are also at fault - a male parent told me. Then I decided to kneel before them for 40 minutes,” the teacher wrote in the report.

Reporters spoke to the male parent, a lawyer, who had asked the teacher to kneel.

On March 6, Minister of Education and Training Phung Xuan Nha sent a dispatch to the chair of Long An People’s Committee, showing strong protest against the parent and asked the local authorities to protect the honor and prestige of teachers.

Nha emphasized that what happened will have an adverse impact on education activities at the school, seriously affecting self-esteem, the honor of teachers and the nation’s tradition of venerating teachers.

The scandal is about a decision made by the teacher who asked students to kneel in the class for mistakes they had made. After hearing about the punishment, parents visited the school to meet the teacher, criticized her severely, and forced her to kneel.

Teachers throughout the country have protested the parent’s behavior and the lack of sympathy of society and parents towards teachers.

Teacher My Hanh, in a letter to VietNamNet, wrote: “Teachers nowadays are just like a fish on the chopping board,” meaning that teachers are under pressure from both the school’s management board and parents.

A high school teacher in Hanoi commented that teaching is now a “dangerous profession”. “You face severe criticism, or sometimes, violence, even if you make minor mistakes.”

He went on to complain that parents today tend to overprotect their children. “They always assert that their children are right and teachers are wrong,” the teacher said.

Meanwhile, Pham Son from the HCM City University of Food Industry said the teacher at Binh Chanh School decided to kneel not because she feared the parents, but because of the concern about losing her job.