Heartbroken with the way students were "tortured" in the 231 slaps case
Instead of focusing on stabilizing the situation and encouraging students after the incident in which Hoang Long Nhat was slapped 231 times by his homeroom teacher, the leaders of Duy Ninh Secondary School came up with an initiative, distributing questionnaires to students in class 6.2 with many offensive questions.
According to the reflection of a student in class 6.2, on November 24, the student received an investigation form from the school, which included 19 questions related to the case of homeroom teacher Nguyen Thi Phuong Thuy ordering Hoang Long Nhat to be slapped 231 times.
The school gives each student a declaration form on half an A4 sheet of paper, with the questions typed. Students must write their gender and full name. At the bottom of each page, students must also write their full name, date, and clearly state: “My declaration…”.
 |
| Ms. Pham Thi Le Anh - Principal of the school said that distributing questionnaires with a series of questions was only to gather objective information from the students. Photo: Quoc Nam (tuoitre.vn) |
Ms. Pham Thi Le Anh - Principal of Duy Ninh Secondary School said that this was just a student survey form. However, when looking at this system of questions, a lawyer confirmed that this was a statement taking form. Meanwhile, the school does not have the function of taking statements, but must be an investigative agency.
“This is an abuse of power and a violation of the law. Furthermore, the sixth graders are only 11 years old, and to take their statements, they must have their parents or guardians present. This can be seen as a form of coercion and torture of the students. We cannot disregard the dignity of children like this in a national standard level I school that is racing to become a national standard level II school.”
A parent who asked to remain anonymous said: Their child said that he was very scared when the school distributed the investigation form, and had to write false statements for fear of being punished.
Slap classification,medium slap, hard slap
Based on the synthesis of "survey forms" from students in grade 6.2, on November 26, Duy Ninh Secondary School made a report signed by Principal Pham Thi Le Anh, sent to Quang Ninh District Party Committee, Quang Ninh District People's Committee, and Quang Ninh District Department of Education and Training.
The report states: “On the afternoon of November 24, 2018, the school investigated students using a survey form. The results of the survey form from 23 students were as follows: The incident in which a student was slapped 231 times by his classmates is real, but of these, 13 students were lightly slapped, 8 were medium slapped, and 2 were slapped hard.”
The report also includes full statistics, in turn, of the questions and the number of students who answered. In particular, the school also recorded the statements of Nhat's classmates who are related to Nhat in the report: "Nhat's cousin in the same class slapped Nhat but he did not cry (23/23 students answered).
Based on the students' statements, Duy Ninh Secondary School confirmed to the leaders of Quang Ninh district in the report: "So through investigation from the students, it was found that the incident had many details that were not as reported in the newspaper."
Mr. Dinh Quy Nhan - Director of the Department of Education and Training of Quang Binh said: No one reported the incident to the department until he learned about it through the press. Currently, the education sector has decentralized management, so the department does not have the right to handle the incident, but it is under the authority of the district level.