LookAtVietnam – The stories of teachers punishing students, creating deep psychological and physical wounds, have been reported by Vietnamese media recently.

Students of Thai Binh private run school in HCM City

Dr of Psychology Dinh Phuong Duy, chairman of the HCM City Psychology-Education Association, agreed, saying some students do not have the skills to protect themselves. “It explains why some students dare not disobey teachers. As the result, they can become so sick that they need medical help”.

In some cases, however, teachers feel students are too rebellious and teachers find themselves powerless.

N, a chemistry teacher at a school in Binh Thanh District, said: “They are so bad that they do not listen to anybody. They and their parents seem to think nothing of teachers’ words. Some have told me that if I expel them, they will simply move to study at a better school”.

Dr Duy believes it is necessary to have more thorough research about young students’ psychology.

Meanwhile, teachers have complained that they are now under too much pressure which can lead to them losing their temper in class.

An official of the HCM City Education and Training Department said that in Finland, every primary class only has 20-25 students, and has two teachers with master degrees. He also said that a group of teachers in France went on a strike recently, because their school put 27 students into one class - two more than the allowed number.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese teachers now have 58-60 students per class and they have to work 10-12 hours per day to get very low wage.

Le Ngoc Diep, head of the Primary Education Department under the HCM City Education and Training Department, said people now demand teachers have higher qualifications and, on top of that, they wanted teachers to genuinely care and look after students’ wellbeing.

However, they do not care if teachers’ salaries are enough and how hard teachers have to work

Nguyen Minh An, a well known researcher from the HCM City Development Research Institute, said teachers nowadays meet too many challenges - overloaded curriculums, overly high numbers of students and limited wages.

“It is understandable that teachers sometimes cannot control themselves when students make mistakes. The heavy burden on teachers’ shoulders is obviously a reason behind the abuse,” he said.

VietNamNet/TT