POST REPORTERS
A teacher at a school facing relocation to make way for the new parliamentary site has been accused of caning eight students, including a girl who was allegedly struck 18 consecutive times.
They were accused of skipping classes to attend a protest against the relocation of Yothinburana school in Dusit district, Bangkok, to clear the land for construction of the new parliament.
They were allegedly caned by a teacher identified as Suwattana Permpool as punishment for the apparent truancy, but their parents complained the punishment was too harsh.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the aunt of a Mathayom 2 (grade 8) student said her niece was caned 18 times by Ms Suwattana on Monday for attending Friday's protest.
More than 500 students from the school had joined the protest march to Government House.
But the student who was allegedly caned 18 times said she had not even joined the protest march.
She said the teacher struck her 18 consecutive times in full view of other students in the classroom, but the other alleged truants _ who she said had joined the protest _ were caned only a few times each. They would apparently receive the remainder of their canings at a later date, in ''installments''.
The girl's parents took her to Vichaiyut hospital in Phaya Thai for a physical examination and presented the results to police at Tao Poon station yesterday as evidence of their complaint.
They also called on the school director to take responsibility for the alleged misdemeanour and to launch a disciplinary investigation of Ms Suwattana.
The girl's mother said a deputy director at the school had offered to mediate the complaint, but she refused.
She accepted that teachers were within their rights to discipline children who misbehaved, but also said teachers who went beyond acceptable levels of punishment should be held to account.
The mother backed up the girl's claims that she had not participated in Friday's protest.
On that day, lessons were proceeding as usual, but the school later dismissed classes because hundreds of its students were planning to join the march.
The parents of the eight students will seek an explanation from the school director today.
Neither the school director nor Ms Suwattana could be reached for comment yesterday.
Khunying Kasama Voravarn na Ayutthaya, secretary-general of the Office of the Basic Education Commission, said regulations do not permit corporal punishment of students, such as caning. Instead, teachers must use verbal reasoning to discipline students.
She said the Education Ministry will set up an inquiry panel to look into the matter.
The contentious new parliamentary site will occupy a 130-rai plot by the Chao Phraya river in Kiakkai, Bangkok.
The land is currently occupied by agencies under the Defence Ministry, Yothinburana School and residential communities.
The cabinet last month approved a compensation package of four billion baht for state-run agencies and communities to be affected by the construction of the new parliament.
Students from Yothinburana school, which occupies eight rai of the 130-rai plot, oppose the change.
The 73-year-old school has about 3,700 students.
Yothinburana school will be relocated only after a replacement institution near Wat Soi Thong in Bang Sue district is completed. Construction should take about two years.
Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej earlier said the school would be relocated to a 16-rai plot of the Defence Ministry, only 1.7 kilometres away from its present location.
The government would give one billion baht for construction of the new school, he promised.
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