Pham Duy Sang, principal of Van Phu Middle School in Son Duong District, was suspended for 15 days in accordance with a decision signed by Giang Tuan Anh, chairman of the Son Duong District People’s Committee.
The suspension, which begins Thursday, is intended to allow school principals to evaluate and verify information related to the incident in which students cornered a music teacher, locked her in a classroom and mistreated her with verbal insults and physical violence.
In a two-minute video clip that began circulating on social media on Monday, a teacher could be seen locked in a classroom as dozens of students forced her into a corner while screaming and throwing objects at her .
Similar videos of the same incident continued to surface on Tuesday.
In a five-minute clip, a group of students could be heard spewing profanities and putting trash in the teacher’s bag.
When the teacher walked towards the classroom door, students threw shoes and slippers at her.
Another, longer video showed the teacher retaliating against students, swinging her shoes in the air and chasing students around the classroom.
The Son Duong District People’s Committee reported that the incident occurred around 10:30 a.m. on November 29.
According to reports, when the music class started, some students asked to leave the class, but the teacher refused.
The teacher and students then started arguing.
When class ended and the teacher moved to another classroom to teach, a group of students followed her, hurling insults at her, clips uploaded to Facebook showed.
While ordering the provincial People’s Committee to report on the matter by December 29, the Ministry of Education and Training called the incident “an act of violence and a serious moral violation.”
Some people familiar with the matter had previously speculated that the students’ behavior was retaliation for previously documented instances of disrespectful teacher conduct.
