Beijing :  A student of a primary school in northwest China was hospitalised when his class teacher ordered other students to slap him one-by-one for not doing school homework.

The incident occurred earlier this month, when Luo Yali, an elementary schoolteacher in Shaanxi province ordered 50 students to take turns and hit on the pupil’s ears. The unnamed student was hospitalised for physical suffering and psychological trauma, China Daily reported.

“If my grandson was slapped by the teacher, I might have tolerated it. But to be slapped by all 50 classmates one by one, I cannot take it,” the injured student’s grandmother surnamed Chi said.

Her grandson wrote in his diary that even a person with stronger self-esteem may have thought of suicide after being treated this way, she said.

The incident drew wide public attention towards corporal punishment. An investigation was ordered, following which the 22-year-old teacher, and the principal of Ankang-city based school were sacked.

Educational authorities now have plans for an overhaul to stop malpractices at schools such as brutality, insults and discrimination towards students.

Besides schoolteachers in northwest China have been warned against inappropriate methods while dealing with children.

The centuries-old child-raising philosophy “sticks make a great man” has deep roots in Chinese society. Calls to end strict teaching and parenting methods that sometimes cross the line have only become popular in recent years.