A video clip in which two high school students beat their teacher after being slapped has stirred public concern over the behaviour of both students and teachers.

Violence erupts in classroom

The clip is over a minute long and records the violence that occurred at Nguyen Hue High School in the central province of Binh Dinh. The teacher rushes at two male students and slaps them in the face multiple times. The second student hits back and a scuffle ensues.

The school principle, Quach Nguyen Huyen Tran, confirmed that there was a violent incident during a chemistry class on January 21 involving Tran Anh Tuan, a 23-year old short-term teacher and two students, Nguyen Phuc Nghia and Nguyen Thanh Long.

“The class was noisy and unruly. The inexperienced teacher tried to physically discipline students, who in turn resisted," Tran said.

According to the principle, after the incident teachers and students were asked to make individual reports. The teacher expressed regret for his actions and made an apology to the students and their parents.

Dao Duc Tuan, Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Education and Training said, “In terms of educational methods, a teacher should not slap students as a means of discipline.”

Many members of the public were shocked after seeing the clip, most of them criticising the teacher and defending the students, who they say only hit back to protect their self-respect.

Do Thi Van Anh, a doctor of sociology, said that this type of incident is not an anomaly, and that violent behaviour by teachers to impose order is no longer acceptable in the modern educational environment.

Sociologist Do Thi Van Anh

“Teachers must spend more time to reason and persuade students. I think that students are generally obedient. Most of the students in the video remained silent even during the incident, and some tried to stop the scuffle. This shows that students are not intrinsically violent,” Anh commented.