Kindergarten boy severely beaten by teacher

October 31, 2016

WCRP: On September 6, 2016, a Kindergarten student from Thiri Myine Ward, Mawlamyine, was severely beaten by his teacher as she accused him of stealing a pencil from his classmate.

According to the student’s grandmother, who held a press conference after the incident, she found the child’s eyes bleeding, found bruises, and other marks on his skin. The grandmother believes her grandson was brutally beaten. When she asked him what had happened, the child responded that he was beaten by his teacher. The grandmother immediately went to the school to investigate what happened with her grandson. When asked, the teacher denied the allegations; however, when the child started crying, she admitted that she beat the child because he stole his classmate’s pencil. The child specified, “I didn’t steal the pencil. I found a pencil under my desk and just picked it up.”

At 4 pm on September 6, the grandmother went to the Township Education Administration Office and reported the case to the Deputy Chief Education Administrator; however, the administrator stated that the grandmother should understand why the teacher beat the child and the grandmother should be careful for the sake of the child’s future.

“The teacher had inhumanely beaten the child and accused him of stealing, the authority told us to understand the reasons from the teacher’s perspective. I have too much hope in the education authority and therefore we discussed the case with them. I’m very disappointed with their response. A month after the incident the teacher had still not been punished for what she did,” said the grandmother.

The Mawlamyine Chief Education Administrator Daw Kyi Win said that the teacher has rights to correct the behavior of students; however, it is unacceptable to seriously beat a child.

“Other teachers went to the grandmother’s house three times to apologize for their co-workers’ manners. They also treated the injuries on the child, but the teacher who beat the child did not come by. The teacher gave an oral statement to the Township Chief Education Administrator and apologized for her actions and promised that she will not severely beat another child in the future,” said Daw Kyi Win.

“My grandson has been suffering from both physical and mental problems now. When seeing his classmates, he wants to go to school but when seeing the teacher who beat him, he quickly runs back into the house and hides. He keeps crying in fear, worried that the teacher will beat him,” said the grandmother.

The grandmother wants the teacher to transfer to another school; however, she is the only teacher who teaches Kindergarten. She is a special trained teacher for Kindergarten students, therefore, the education authorities are unable to fulfill the request of the grandmother.

The article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child states that “no child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offenses committed by persons below eighteen years of age.” It is clear that the teacher violated the Convention on the Rights of the Child and should be punished for her actions.

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