Teacher savagely beaten by students agrees to keep quiet so they can sit gaokao exams

A secondary school teacher from Shaanxi province brutally beaten by a group of senior students agreed not to report the incident to the police so they could sit the upcoming gaokao or national university entrance exam, a local newspaper reported.

Six gaokao candidates from Changwu High School, whose ages are unknown, knocked the teacher surnamed Cao to the ground on Friday and beat him on his head with three mops until the handles broke into several pieces, Xi’an-based reported on Monday.

The 50-year-old had been attacked after stopping the students from ripping their textbooks, an annual event held by gaokao candidates ahead of the exam to release pressure, deputy headmaster Xie told the paper.

When other teachers ran to the scene, they found Cao with his face and shirt covered in blood, the newspaper said. The teacher also hit one of the students on his head in self-defence, the paper quoted Xie as saying.

Cao’s family insisted reporting the incident to the police, Xie told the paper. But after the regional education bureau stepped in and “negotiated” with his family, Cao agreed to stay silent until the students had taken the gaokao over the weekend, an office director of the bureau was quoted as saying.

Xie added that the students may not have been able to focus on studying for the exam if Cao had reported the case.