A tuition centre supervisor was reported to have slapped a primary school student thrice during a tuition session.
The enraged mother called the Wanbao hotline to complain about the incident, which occurred at a tuition centre located in Yishun.
She said her son, 7, is now afraid to go for tuition as a result.
According the mother, Ms Tan, 34, the boy was slapped because he had run out of class and refused to return to the centre despite numerous pleas by the tutor.
But she was incensed when her son told her that he was also pushed to the ground by the centre's supervisor, and decided to make a police report.
Hit thrice
When interviewed by Wanbao's reporters, the boy said he had run out of the classroom during a break, to watch other boys playing soccer on a nearby field.
When the tutor returned to class, the boy still refused to return. The tutor then turned to the supervisor for help to get the boy back.
The boy said the supervisor, a man in his 60s, slapped him when he still did not listen.
But his punishment did not end there.
At the end of the lesson, the boy said he was cleaning the blackboard when he heard the supervisor's booming voice. Terrified, he dropped the duster and used his hands to cover his face.
The boy alleged that the supervisor gave him a slap before dragging him out of the classroom, where he pushed the boy onto the ground and hit him again across the face.
Why the face?
When Ms Tan went to pick her son from the centre that day, she noticed that the left side of his face was red and swollen. When she asked her son what had happened, he told her that 'uncle' had hit him.
As a result of the beatings, the boy suffered a cut on his inner cheek.
Ms Tan does not understand why the supervisor had to slap him. "He could have hit his arms, or legs. He's only a young boy." she said.
"The force of a slap from a grown man can be huge; what if it had led to more severe injuries?"
According to the report, Ms Tan plans to press charges against the supervisor. She is also demanding that he apologise to her son in front of all the students that were present.
Given warning
The centre's supervisor, Mr Liang, told Wanbao reporters he had not intended to hurt the boy, but had done so out of concern for his safety.
According to him, the boy had run out and on to a public carpark.
The second time Mr Liang slapped the student was when he 'threw' the blackboard duster. Mr Liang said he thought it was an act of defiance, and that the boy was 'shaming' him in front of the whole class.
However, he said he did not push the boy as he had claimed. According to his version of events, the boy was struggling so much as Mr Liang held on to him that he fell.
He admitted his actions were committed 'in a fit of anger' and may have been overhanded. The police have already given him a warning.
If the boy's parents intend to press charges, he would just have to accept it, he said.
Source: http://news.asiaone.com/News/Educati...10-179101.html
Wed Nov 11, 2009 11:36 am