Asahi: School raises student's grades in exchange for silence on beatings
YOKKAICHI, Mie Prefecture-A private elementary school here raised a sixth-grade student's grades in exchange for silence after the 12-year-old boy ended up in hospital twice after being punished by two teachers, school officials said... In the first case, the student misbehaved while students were preparing for a festival. A male teacher beat the boy and kneed him in the face, inflicting eye injuries that required two weeks' hospital care. In the second incident, the student was beaten so severely his neck was injured and a hand was broken, requiring three weeks of a doctor's care, officials said.
The student's parents received 1.3 million yen in compensation for each case in a private settlement with the school. Neither beating was reported to the police or the prefectural government. The school also raised the student's grades so he could enter a private junior high school. In November, school trustees had judged the boy's exam results below its affiliated junior high school's admittance standard, so the student began preparing to take an entrance exam for the private school. But last week, the school produced an altered grade report that raised his marks in nearly every subject...The homeroom teacher who changed the student's record said the principal had told him to give the boy better grades so he could enter his choice of junior high school. "I am sorry for trying to force him into a lie that could follow him for the rest of his life."
