.png)
I believe there is a need to reassess teachers be it in primary education level schools or tertiary education ones.
FMT reported the Year 5 boy who suffered a severe heat stroke as a result of an absurd punishment by his teacher “will be given an OKU card”. FMT added the boy would not be able to return to his school due to “a nerve condition” as a result of said punishment.
When I came across this news, I was deeply saddened and gutted. How can a teacher perform such cruelty to an innocent child; to have him stand outside in the scorching heat for more than two hours.
What’s worse is that the family’s spokesman, S. Dayalan, who spoke to BFM: Evening Edition, mentioned that there were no actions of courtesy or accountability by the boy’s school administration as well as the teacher who imposed the punishment on him. In addition, FMT reported the boy “received three warning letters for absenteeism while receiving treatment at the hospital”.
According to FMT, the mother of the victim, AD Mogahana Selvi, 34 mentioned it was aching not to see her son “in a cheerful state” like he used to be. The boy has recently “isolated himself and would mumble” on his own.
There is a growing need to protect children or students as a whole from teachers who abuse their authority.
I recall the time I was studying at the primary level when a teacher of mine would impose punishments on us should we make mistakes in our homework or be mischievous like how children would be. Said punishments entail pinching our cheeks before slapping us.
Though, I’d like to note that the pain varied depending on the teacher’s mood. I felt uneasy as to how a teacher could touch children and, to an extent, slap one as punishment. What’s saddening was that the rest of my classmates found him a great teacher to hang with just because he had charisma or they were trying to be on his good side.
Similarly, a friend of mine mentioned how his teacher was immediately suspended after someone lodged a complaint against him for pinching students in the ribs should they make mistakes in class. To an extent, there would be a bruise on the affected part of the body.
I hope that there will be no tolerance towards teachers who abuse their authority and inflict harm on children or students as a whole. It is sickening that there could be some out there now; unreported cases and whatnot.
The authorities have to act now and fast.
Ng Zhen Hao is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact Newswav.
