bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Children as young as four are being subjected to abusive and humiliating punishment by teachers.

 The Education Department is to pay $3 million to hire experts to stop primary school teachers possibly harming children in what is described as a 'hidden problem'.

 Workshops will be held at schools and professional organisations will offer training course on disciplinary attitudes.

 Parents have complained of children being made to parade in playgrounds carrying placards with phrases like 'talkative pig' for being noisy in class, said the Hong Kong Professional Counselling Association.

 Some schools notorious for strict discipline segregate children by giving them cards of different colours to signify the degree of naughtiness, the association said.

 Even small children in Primary One classes have been banned from going to the toilet during class because suspicious teachers did not believe they had a genuine need.

 The organisation, made up of educationalists, social workers, psychologists and officials from disciplinary forces, is to compile a report.

 Spokesman Bonny Yip Yim Yan-mun said 80 per cent of primary school teachers had not been trained to understand children.

 'Their training focused mainly on academic performance. The humiliating punishment and subtle attitude could harm the children's self-esteem,' said Ms Yip, a senior lecturer in City University's division of social studies.

 'Many children are afraid of going to school. They don't enjoy their school life,' she said.

 Training courses to help teachers develop their skills with children are being planned with local universities, said Ms Yip.

 Ruth Lau Wing-mun, of the Education Department's Student Discipline Section, would not comment directly on the claims, but said humiliation would not make children more responsible.

 'It's a mirror effect. Those who have been humiliated will grow up to do the same to others,' she said.

 The section's task to guide teachers, launched a year ago in 105 secondary schools, would be extended to primary schools in September. Eight more officers would be recruited.

 Chairman of the Union of Teachers of Aided Primary Schools, Leung Shiu-chuen, admitted some teachers had 'old-fashioned' attitudes.

 'They left their own school many years ago. They joined the profession when corporal punishment was still allowed,' he said.



Action to prevent teachers humiliating young pupils