A 32-year-old teacher at a municipal junior high school in Kasuya, Fukuoka Prefecture, made disobedient students write "I am stupid" in their notebooks, it was learned Friday.
The principal and other school officials learned about the incident after parents lodged complaints and reported it to the municipal board of education. The man, who teaches social studies to four third-year classes, apologized to the students.
He also instructed all students to write "Please give me one more chance" 20 times in their notebooks when he returned end-of-term exams during July 3-5 class sessions, the officials said. He later apologized.
The teacher then asked questions selected from the exam and asked each student to answer them orally. In one class, two students did not follow his instructions and he made them write "I am stupid" 20 times, they said.
"The teacher's behavior is inappropriate and lacks common sense. We would like to consider measures against him upon studying the details," the education board said in a statement.