Teacher admonished over punishment at special needs school in Japan

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
Osaka prefectural government office

A teacher at a special needs elementary school in Osaka Prefecture has been admonished for inappropriately punishing a student in 2020, it has been learned.

The incident arose after the then first-grade student ate the teacher’s lunch while she was absent from the classroom during a break. When the teacher learned what had happened, she attached a note of apology to the student’s back and walked him around the school for about 20 minutes.

The prefectural board of education admonished the teacher, in her 20s, on Sept. 2 this year for her “inappropriate words and behavior toward the child.”

The teacher resigned Sept. 12, the board of education said.

According to the board, the teacher’s note read: “I ate my teacher’s school lunch without permission. I’m sorry for what I did.”