VietNamNet Bridge - Many teachers have been disciplined recently because they clicked ‘like’ or made comments on Facebook.

Hai Au, the teacher, related a story that a colleague of hers fell down into the canal off M3 bridge near the Tan Hiep Primary School.

A teacher in An Giang province was punished some months ago after making comments about the province’s chair on Facebook. 

Luckily, the decision on disciplining the teacher was recalled later. And the Chau Doc City People’s Committee admitted that the Chau Doc City Education & Training Sub-department in An Giang province violated the laws when releasing a document prohibiting teachers and students to ‘like’ and make comments on social networks. The document was also recalled later.

A lecturer of Can Tho University of Technology also had problems after ‘speaking ill’ of the school where he works.

Most recently, a teacher in Long An province, who wrote about an accident with a colleague because of a bridge collapse, was also given a strong warning from the commune’s authorities and the school where she works.

Hai Au, the teacher, related a story that a colleague of hers fell down into the canal off M3 bridge near the Tan Hiep Primary School. 

The person was saved by another colleague. Meanwhile, another teacher died some years ago at the same place because she was not rescued.

“Can the local authorities see the danger hanging over everyone who goes on the bridge? Where are they? Do they know what people expect from them? We don’t need red carpet. We need safety,” she commented.

However, the teacher later had to erase the last paragraph. She was also asked to write a report to admit her fault.

The teacher later had to erase the last paragraph. She was also asked to write a report to admit her fault.

The decisions on punishing the teachers who wrote about the province’s chair and criticized the local authorities for the collapsed bridge have sparked anger from the public.

“Teachers, like all other citizens, must have the freedom of expression. They must have the right to access information and show what they think,” Hoang Thieu Mai commented on her Facebook.

Only after the public raised its voice, and higher-level agencies checked the documents on imposing sanctions on teachers, did local authorities and schools admit that they were wrong when releasing such documents.

However, teachers have warned each other about making comments on VIPs, local authorities and state agencies on social networks, as they would meet troubles one day.

The teachers in Chau Doc district of An Giang province said no official ban had been put in official documents, but they had been told not to defame leaders and not to comment about any cases that happen in their localities. 

“I swear I will never access websites run by reactionary forces. But I think I have the right to make comments about what is happening in my locality,” a teacher said.


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