Malaysian teacher staples 10-year-old boy's ear for not doing his homework
PUBLISHED ONSeptember 30, 2019 10:50 AMByRainer Cheung
We've all failed to hand in our homework at some point during our school days, but while not submitting your assignment comes with obvious consequences, a Malaysian boy hadn't expected to be punished by having his ear stapled.
The incident took place on Saturday (Sept 28) in a primary school in Sabah.
A teacher had stapled the left ear of the primary four student simply because he had failed to complete his homework, Sin Chew Daily reported.
The child's ear bled as a result of the incident. His mother only learnt of the punishment after picking up her son from school that day. She filed a police report after.
Dr Misterine Radin, Sabah State Education Department director, confirmed on Sunday that they had received a report that a teacher had injured a student.
"We have received a report regarding a teacher who had injured a student's ear with the excuse of educating using a stapler," she told the media during the Special Education Teachers Professionalism Course closing ceremony.
Sabah State Education and Innovation Minister YB Datuk Dr Yusof B. Yacob remarked that the usage of a stapler to discipline children was unheard of. He said that as educators, teachers ought to understand a student's problems and treat them the way they would treat a family member.
He added that inflicting punishment on students might affect their psychological development.
Meanwhile, Dr Radin reminded teachers that punishments can only be used for education, not for the purpose of injuring students.
While she wasn't aware whether this was the first time such a case had happened in Sabah, Dr Radin related that the education department has received a similar case earlier this year.
"What is certain, this teacher will be sent for counselling."
In 2010, a primary school teacher in Sarawak was reported to have meted out a similar punishment on a boy who was making too much noise during class. The traumatised child refused to attend school after the incident.
rainercheung@asiaone.com