Taipei’s Department of Education said Tuesday it had opened an investigation into accusations that two teachers slapped and held children upside down at a quasi-public preschool in the city’s Nangang District.
Taipei City Councilor Chung Siao-ping (鍾小平) and two of the alleged victims’ parents released video footage supporting their claims at a press conference on Tuesday morning.
During the event, the mother of a 3-year-old boy surnamed Tsui (崔) said her son had come home from school on Oct. 27 with marks on his cheek, neck, and chest.
According to the boy’s mother, the teacher claimed to know nothing about the marks.
The boy’s mother said she discovered her son got the marks in a fight with another child after reviewing classroom surveillance footage.
However, according to the mother, subsequent footage showed the teacher slapping her son several times in the face and telling him to stand in the corner following the altercation.
While reviewing more of the footage over the next several days, Tsui’s mother said, she discovered that several other students in the class had also been improperly disciplined, and began informing other parents.
Another parent at the news conference, the father of a 2-and-a-half-year-old girl surnamed Lee (李), said the footage showed one of the teachers grabbing his daughter, holding her upside down, and then tossing her to the ground.
In addition to his distress over what happened to his daughter, the parent said he was also worried about the psychological effect on the other children who witnessed the teacher’s actions.
Lee’s mother, meanwhile, said that while she had trusted the teachers, she noticed that her daughter recently seemed “emotionally unstable” after school and would burst out crying over trivial matters.
According to Chung, the “abusive” punishments, carried out by two different teachers on the same day, need to be thoroughly investigated by the Taipei City government.
Chen Su-hui (陳素慧), deputy head of the city’s Department of Education, pledged at the news conference to quickly complete an investigation into the incidents while warning that the school may face fines or more serious consequences if it is found guilty of major violations.
Of the two teachers accused of abuse, Chen said that one had resigned while the other was cooperating with investigators after being suspended from teaching duties.
If either teacher is found to have used improper discipline, they will be fined under the Protection of Children and Youths Welfare and Rights Act and banned from holding future positions in education, according to Chen.
Chen said her department is providing assistance to parents who want to move their children to other schools. The Nangang school has not previously been reported for improper discipline, she added.
Meanwhile, the preschool’s principal, who was also in attendance Tuesday, apologized to the parents for her “negligence” while claiming that she only became aware of the teachers’ behavior after seeing the surveillance footage.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel