LookAtVietnam – The disciplinary decision for the student who struck a classmate is that she and other involved students will not be expelled from school.

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In an interview with Tien Phong newspaper, Tran Thanh Son, Headmaster of Tran Nhan Tong School where the six students from the video are studying, explained that the main purpose of discipline is not to just expel students, but to make them understand their mistakes and to learn from them.

Tien Phong: The student who struck her classmate was ‘sentenced’ to probation for one year. What does it mean? Will she not be expelled from school?

Nguyen Thanh Son: In principle, we can expel the student since she made such a dramatic mistake. But where will she go if she cannot go to school any more? What will she do?

We think that our responsibility is to educate students into becoming good people and useful members of society. We need to keep a way open for them to improve themselves, therefore, we have decided on the one year probation sentence.

This means that the two students, who made the worst offenses, will continue studying under the supervision of teachers, parents and classmates. Every week, they must write a report on how they are improving their conduct. Should either make any further mistakes, they will be expelled immediately.

TP: How about the other students? Why not to discipline them? The indifference of students who watched their classmates hit each other is what shocked people the most.

Son: Do you think that only these students were indifferent? An online newspaper revealed that the case took place in broad daylight and in front of a very crowded beer shop with a lot of elderly people, but no one made the students stop.

TP: Why does Quynh Anh, the victim in the case, also receive punishment?

Son: Quynh Anh also made a mistake. She should have reported the disagreement to teachers and the school, but she did not. She chose to “talk face to face” with her classmate and skipped class to do so.

The biggest problem with of Quynh Anh is that she lied, denying that she was the student in the video clip when questioned by the school and police. This dishonesty forced the adults to spend more time in discovering the truth.

TP: How about the responsibility of the head teacher?

Son: Some people said that it is necessary to discipline the head teacher, but I disagreed. Who can care for all students 24 hours a day? If we discipline her, no one will want to become a head teacher any more.

VietNamNet/TP