A primary school teacher in southern China who was fired for administering physical punishment to more than 10 students but later asked to stay on by dozens of parents is at the centre of online debate on mainland social media.

The Primary Two teacher at a school in Dongguan, Guangdong province, was sacked after she disciplined a group of students she said had made inappropriate finger gestures in class. Guangdong TV reported that the teacher told the students to perform a martial arts squatting stance for an extended period while she beat them with a stick.

The report did not identify the teacher, and it was not reported whether the punishment injured any students.

When the school responded by firing the teacher, the parents of 44 out of 47 students in her class appealed to the school to let the teacher stay, arguing they were satisfied with the teacher’s overall performance.

A woman whose daughter was one of the students punished said she did not blame the teacher for her actions and said she had acted “impulsively”.

“My kid communicates with me every day about what happens at school,” said the woman, whose name was not published in the report.

“I am happy to give this teacher another chance to correct her mistakes.”

Another parent, a father who was also not named, said the teacher should stay.

“I am also strict with my kid. I once told the teacher that since my kid is in her class, I fully trust her,” the father said.

The teacher has said she regretted her behaviour and publicly apologised to the students.

“I have not controlled my temper. I did something that I am not supposed to do. I hadn’t thought carefully before using corporal punishment, and in the end, I didn’t use an appropriate method of discipline with the students. I am sorry!” the teacher was quoted in the report.

Qin Qianfeng, a senior member of the school, said the teacher is a competent member of staff who is recognised by the majority of parents for the quality of her teaching.

“She teaches well and has a high level of responsibility. The class she is in charge of often wins honorary flags,” said Qin. “We also hope she can continue her role here.”

The case has attracted public attention on mainland social media, with most people showing support for physical punishment, saying they “are not giving up on a good teacher.”

One person said: “In the future, a smart teacher will not discipline students. Whether the kids learn well or not is none of the teacher’s business. What the teacher will do is just remind the parents. That’s all.”

Another person called for the return of physical punishment in the form of the ferule, a long ruler traditionally used for punishing naughty children by slapping them on the hand: “The ferule should be returned to teachers.”

Not all commenters online supported the use of physical punishment, however.

“I don’t accept her using a stick to beat students. Letting students do the martial arts squatting stance is fine, but beating them is really inappropriate.”

It was once a routine practice in China for teachers to use a ferule ruler to hit a student’s palm if they did not perform well. However, China’s Teachers Law and Juveniles Protection Law ban teachers from using physical punishment.

Last month, a secondary school teacher in eastern Shandong province was suspended from his job after surveillance footage of him violently kicking and slapping students with poor test results was released online and caused a furious public backlash. – South China Morning Post