The principal of Le Lai Secondary School handed in his resignation after a female student was beaten by fellow classmates.

Thao said the other students repeatedly slapped her face and hit her head against a wall until she lost consciousness.

Dr. Do Hong Hai, head of the Surgical-Nerve Ward at the HCMC-based Cho Ray Hospital, said March 31 that Thao was brought to the hospital on the next day she was beaten in a panicked state and suffering head pain.

Le Duc Binh, the principal of Le Lai Secondary School, said school officials have asked students Tu and Tuyen to write letters acknowledging their wrongdoings. Mr. Binh speculated that Thao may have been beaten due to her good academic performance and beauty.

School officials said that Tuyen’s parents died in prison and she now lives with her elderly grandmother.

After the beating was reported, the district People’s Committee April 2 worked with the education sector to hand down penalties for Tuyen, Tu and the school.

The People’s Committee said the school management board was irresponsible because it didn’t send Thao to hospital immediately, but instead asked her family to do so. Violence has been a long-standing problem at the school but the school did not report to the People’s Committee, officials added.

The district People’s Committee also asked the education sector to work out strategies for handling school violence and said district police will also impose penalties on students Tuyen and Tu.

Source: Saigon Giai Phong