School vice principal disciplined after forcing students to eat trashed food

Le Trung Dam, vice principal of Phan Ngoc Hien High School, received a warning Monday from the disciplinary committee of the Ca Mau Department of Education and Training.

On April 18, Dam saw six 12th graders bring food into the classroom. Since the school forbids eating inside the classroom, Dam told the students to have their food in the schoolyard.

Two students went out of the classroom and dumped their food, which was contained inside plastic bags, into the trash bin. A while later, when Dam saw that the two students had no food in their hands, he ordered them to dig it out of the trash bin and eat it in his presence.

Dam knew that the students had thrown their food in the trash bin, and yet forced them to eat it, which is unacceptable, said Du, adding that the vice principal has since apologized to the students and their parents.

Le Hoang Du, deputy director of the Ca Mau education department, said Dam’s actions were “non-educational.”