Teacher meted out jail term for abuse of pupil

BACOLOD CITY—A Math teacher will spend six years in jail after a Regional Trial Court (RTC) found her guilty of child abuse for maltreating a nine-year-old pupil.

The teacher, who had served a six-month suspension, is also facing a separate administrative complaint filed by the pupil’s parents at the Department of Education for grave misconduct.

The names of the teacher and pupil were kept confidential by the court.

Math remedial class

Court records showed that the pupil and his two classmates were told by the teacher to stay inside the classroom at 4 p.m. on Feb. 17, 2005 for a remedial class in Math in preparation for the regional achievement tests.

The victim said the teacher asked him to solve a Math problem. Because the pupil was short, he pulled a chair and stood on it to solve the problem on the board.

When he failed to do so, he said the teacher pulled him by the hair and banged his head on the board.

The boy said the teacher kicked him, causing him to topple over from the chair he was standing on.

The boy’s parents learned about what happened when he came home crying and with swelling on the forehead.

Just scolded

The teacher, however, denied hurting the boy saying she just scolded the boy after he failed to solve the Math problem.

She said the boy fell accidentally from the chair, which caused the injuries.

But Judge Ray Alan Drilon, of RTC Branch 41, found the teacher’s defense weak in the light of strong pieces of evidence presented against her.

“The statements made by the complainant were consistent and there is no evidence that the child made up stories to falsely charge his teacher,” the judge said.