Cops to probe HCMC international school students’ fight

Speaking at a city meeting on Friday, Ho Tan Minh, chief of staff of the city Department of Education and Training, said the department wants the police to get to the bottom of things since the parties involved had spread “unofficial and unauthorized” information online, and support individuals and organizations that had been “abused” during the past week, he added.

The school had said earlier that parents of some students involved in the incident “had refused to cooperate” and did not show up to discuss the matter.

The incident became publicly known after a woman went online to complain that her daughter in seventh grade was beaten in the school by a senior and teachers and staff had failed to intervene.

She said the problem began during a school trip to Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province bordering the city when her daughter and an eighth grader had a quarrel.

After school on May 26 her daughter was beaten up by the other girl. Three other students who sought to break up the fight were also beaten, and some teachers saw the incident but did nothing to break up the fight, she alleged.

The same afternoon she and the parents of the other children who had been beaten went to the school, which told them to sort it out among themselves since the fight had occurred outside the campus, she said.

Her request to meet the eighth-grader was rejected by the school, she claimed.

A medical check-up found that the seventh-grader had injuries on her arms, scratches on her body and breathing difficulty.

In a report to the department on May 30, the school’s principal, Kim Sharee Green, admitted the school was “partly responsible” and promised to cooperate with the parents to help the students overcome any possible mental problems and return to their classes.

Minh said the school had collected camera footage and statements from several students to settle the case.

The ISHCMC-AA is advertised as an international secondary and high school with an American curriculum. It charges tuitions of VND503-603 million (US$21,700-26,000) a year for sixth to 12th grades.