Teacher left bloodied and bruised as pupil hits out

There has been a heated debate in the media here in France over the past few days over behaviour in the classroom and in particular the problems of discipline following an incident last week in which a teacher was hit by one of her pupils.

But this was not in a secondary school as you might at first imagine, but in a primary school.

The child was just 10 years old, had a history of behavioural problems and was also receiving special supervision.

It happened towards the end of lessons last Friday at the Jean-Jaurès de Persan primary school in a suburb of Paris.

When the teacher reportedly somehow "caught the boys fingers by mistake in a radiator," he suddenly became uncontrollable and in front of the rest of his classmates punched her and then started kicking her.

Some of the other children rushed out to look for help and returned to find the desks upturned and their teacher with a bloody nose.

She was left bruised and in shock, but not in need of hospital treatment, and has taken sick leave for this week.

In the meantime she has filed a complaint with the police, who on Tuesday interviewed the boy in the presence of his parents.

While the education minister, Xavier Darcos, has issued a statement offering his support to the teacher and saying that this sort of thing shouldn't happen, the head teacher said that the school still had a responsibility to teach the boy.

Education minister, Xavier Darcos

(© David Mendiboure - Service photo de Matignon)

He cannot be suspended, excluded or expelled she told the press. Regulations don't allow any of those options. "It's our role as a public service to provide the child with a suitable education," she is quoted as saying.

That's a view backed up by Simone Christin, an inspector for the local education authority who visited the school on Monday to talk to teachers and children alike.

"It was an isolated incident," she said afterwards. "One involving a child who was known to have behavioural problems and has for a period of time been monitored and received special assisted supervision."

In spite of the obligation the school and local education authority might have, it didn't seem of much comfort to mothers and fathers as they gathered in front of the gates on Monday afternoon to collect their children.

Emotions were understandably still running high and there was a banner hanging at the entrance as television cameras were there to capture the reactions of some of the parents.

"My daughter was talking about it throughout the whole of the weekend, said one mother.

"When I collected my son after lessons last Friday he was in tears," said another. "He didn't want to return to school this morning" said another.

The local public prosecutor Marie-Thérèse de Givry insisted that whatever the outcome of police investigations there would be no criminal proceedings brought against the boy as he is younger than 13.

She suggested that he would probably have a psychiatric evaluation to determine what sort of extra needs he might need within the education system.

Since the incident the boy has yet to return to regular lessons. When he does, it will not be with the rest of this class but initially at least on a one-to-one basis.