Deputy Minister Hoang Minh Son: Students locking up teachers is unacceptable

At the regular Government press conference on the afternoon of December 6, reporters asked the Ministry of Education and Training to provide their views and how to handle the case of a 7th grade student locking a teacher in the classroom, swearing and throwing things at her.

In response, Deputy Minister Hoang Minh Son said he was "very concerned" when he heard the information. He assessed this as "very serious and unacceptable". The Ministry has sent a document to the locality requesting verification and clarification of the incident.

However, Mr. Son added that although he was upset, he needed to look at the problem objectively and thoroughly, and then find a solution.

"It is necessary to clarify the cause of the incident, whether it was caused by the teacher or the student, or whether it was the responsibility of the school, to rectify, handle it strictly, and learn from it deeply," said Mr. Son, emphasizing that from this incident, it is necessary to find a solution to the situation of school violence in general.

According to him, student disciplinary measures are only applied to specific cases. Therefore, the education sector, localities, parents, and teachers need to find fundamental, long-term solutions.

First of all, it is necessary to re-evaluate the teaching staff from the training process, fostering, testing expertise, qualities, and skills. Education and strengthening school ethics also need to evaluate how students comply.

"For the school, letting such an incident happen will cause many consequences, so we must find the root cause to prevent it early. The relationships between teachers and students, the psychological development of students, and school management must all be reviewed," said Mr. Son.

Education leaders also hope that parents should not consider education as just a matter of school, but also of the family. Ultimately, the whole society is responsible for the incident "because although violence occurs in schools, it represents a phenomenon of the whole society".

"If the culture in society from traffic, behavior, and cyberspace are all good, it will have a positive impact on students," said Mr. Son.

On the night of December 4, a nearly two-minute video was circulated on social media, recording images of some students of class 7C, Van Phu Secondary School, Son Duong District, Tuyen Quang Province, locking their music teacher in the classroom, cursing and throwing things at her. Sometimes, these students held sticks and fans, pointed at her face, and tried to snatch the phone from her hand.

In another video lasting nearly 5 minutes, a group of students cursed a lot and stuffed trash into the teacher’s bag. As the teacher walked from the podium to the classroom door, the students threw papers and slippers. A video lasting more than a minute shows the teacher protesting. She waved her shoes around, chased the students around the classroom, climbed on the desk, and threw slippers at the students.

According to a report from the People's Committee of Son Duong district, the incident took place at 10:30 a.m. on November 29. When the music class in class 7C began, some students asked to leave but the teacher did not agree. Afterwards, "a dispute arose between the teacher and the students."

After class, the teacher switched to class 6A, then some students from class 7C went over, cursed, insulted the teacher, recorded a video and posted it on Facebook.

The Department of Internal Affairs, Department of Education and Training, and the district police are coordinating to verify and handle the case. The Ministry of Education and Training requests the Provincial People's Committee to announce the results before December 29.

According to current regulations, students who violate discipline are handled in three forms: warning; reprimand; notification to parents; or suspension from school for a period of time (maximum one year).