Pham Thi Hang, director of the Thanh Hoa Education & Training Department

On October 1, a female 10th grader was found using a mobile phone during a lesson.
As the mobile phone was unlocked, the teacher, who had taken it from her, could see the content of messages students had sent to each other. 

The students, who were members of a Facebook chat group named ‘Dong Co Bich’ (Teacher Bich’s Den), spoke ill of teachers and the school.

The teacher reported the case to the school’s board of management the next day.

On October 23, the school released the decision that three students would not be allowed to attend the school for one year, four students would be suspended for one week, and one student would be reprimanded. 

The decision faced strong opposition from educators and the public.

Tran Thanh Nam, a psychological expert from the Hanoi National University, said expelling students from school must not be a feasible solution. 

When students make mistakes, teachers need to rectify students’ deviations to help students improve themselves, rather than expel students from school. By refusing students, the school denies their educational responsibility.

Sharing the same view, Vu Thu Huong from the Hanoi University of Education said that the mistakes made by the seven students did not warrant such punishment.

She also pointed out that the teacher violated the law on privacy when reading the messages on the student’s phone.

Huong thinks that if students had officially “blackened” teachers’ and the school’s reputation on social networks, they should have been strictly disciplined. However, in this case, the students only exchanged their view about teachers in a private manner.

She went on to say that high school students are easily influenced by the environment and society, so teachers and parents need to teach them how to behave correctly. 

Nguyen Dong Trang from the Dak Nong Education & Training Department commented that disciplining and expelling students from school is the easiest method to apply to students who make mistakes. However, educators need to help students become good citizens.

A survey by the HCM City Education Research Institute in 2015 found that 57.3 percent lack knowledge about constitution and laws and 42.5 percent don’t have respect to teachers and speak ill of teachers.

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