Nanny who beat children held

The police of southern Bien Hoa City yesterday brought in a nanny for questioning after a short video clip showing her beating seven children was aired on Viet Nam Television.

The video clip showed 40 year old Quang Thi Kim Hoa slapping the children’s faces and beating them with a rod while feeding them.

She even pulled a little girl’s hair backward to put a spoon of food into her mouth.

The children, aged three to six, were being kept in a 7sq.m corridor without toys when the police arrived.

"There are many signs of violence against these children. So we are holding her in custody for investigation," said the municipal police head Nguyen Thanh Long.

The nanny, who had not been trained to be a pre-school nurse, admitted that she beat the children, but only during meals, because they did not want to eat.

She said five out of the seven children she took care of were her relatives’ children.

Hoa opened her private nursery in 2004 without a license on Vo Thi Sau Street. The centre usually took care of seven to ten children, aged one to six, from the early morning until 9 or 10pm, much later than public nurseries.

The cost for one child was VND600,000-700,000 (US$38-44) a month.

The municipal Education and Training Department head Le Van Hung said Hoa’s nursery was not a kindergarten but only a place to take care of the children of Hoa’s relatives.

"The department and the local People’s Committee inspected Hoa’s home many times but did not find any violations," said Hung.

Dong Nai Province’s Education and Training Department director Le Minh Hoang said the provincial department would deal with the case and tighten the licensing and management of private nurseries.

(Source: VNS)