VietNamNet Bridge - Three babysitters in Quang Binh province have been discovered as binding the hands and feet of a 15-month-old. In another case, a two-year-old child in Lang Son was seen crying and eating garbage. 

As the two-year-old boy “H” from Xuan Mai commune of Lang Son province cried, Thuy and Tam, two teachers at the commune’s kindergarten, decided to leave him in the yard behind the classroom and close the door to prevent him from entering the class. 

H sat next to a dust bin, rummaged through it and picked up something and put it into his mouth. After that, he continued crying.

A video clip showing the image of the boy spread quickly thanks to internet. Only after the clip appeared on the internet did the Xuan Mai commune authorities hear about the case. 

Vy The Hong, chair of the district people’s committee, requested the local education sub-department to investigate the case.

According to Lanh Thi Hue, head of the district education sub-department, two teachers, were suspended. 

She said Tam and Thuy, the two teachers, regretted their behavior and visited H’s parents to apologize.

Prior to that case, local newspapers reported that three teachers at Son Ca Nursery School in Dong Hoi City in Quang Binh province stuffed a rag into a 15-month-old child’s mouth, tied his hands and feet, and beat him.

Son Ca Nursery School is a privately run school which has been operating illegally, without a license.

Though the school was equipped with cameras which allow parents to watch their children from a distance, the teachers’ behavior had not been discovered.

Dinh Thi Thuy Hang, the mother of the child, after discovering many bruises on the child’s hands, decided to find out what happened with the child at school by watching the camera.

Hang said on October 5, she saw a teacher, named L, hitting her child’s hand with a spoon. The teacher also pulled the child’s ears when feeding him.

When Hang arrived at the school, she saw her boy’s bound hands and feet, with a rag in his mouth and bruises on arms and legs.

Nguyen Ba Minh, Director of the Ministry of Education and Training’s Preschool Education Department, said he was shocked about the teachers’ behaviors. 

Minh said the ministry needs to strictly punish the teachers as a warning to others. He reminded that the case in Quang Binh occurred at an unlicensed school, requesting the local authorities to tighten control over education establishments in the locality.

Nine serious child abuse cases have been found and reported by local newspapers since 2008.

Thanh Mai

The Son Ca Nursery School in Quang Binh province