Teacher beats first grader at summer class in Nha Trang

The boy had been sent to a facility operated by Dang Thi Phuong for extra classes to improve his spelling skills less than a month ago.

Phuong had opened those classes at her home in Phuoc Hoa Ward of Nha Trang City during the summer break. She currently teaches five children.

When the mother of the boy picked him up Thursday afternoon, he told her he felt pain in his buttocks while his lip was bleeding.

When checking him at home, the mother found bruises all over his buttocks.

A photo taken by a parent showing bruises on her son's buttock.

The boy then said Phuong had beaten him with a stick, so the mother reported the case to police.

Working with the police, Phuong confessed she had hit the boy with a wooden stick.

"Phuong called me on the phone last night to apologize, saying that she beat my son because he was slow," the mother said.

Phuong said the boy failed to concentrate when studying and disturbed the other four children. Besides this, he could not catch up with the others as he was a slow learner. Therefore, she hit him with the purpose of "improving him."

According to the police, Phuong opened the facility illegally and they have requested her to shut it down.

Tran Nguyen Lap, deputy head of Nha Trang’s Department of Education and Training, said opening extra classes for students at elementary level was against the rules.