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De Standaard interviews the teacher whose violence towards a disobedient pupil in a school for children in difficulty shocked Belgium two weeks ago. A video clip filmed by another pupil is up on YouTube. In a remarkable interview, the teacher, nicknamed "Cement Sadist" by Dutch daily De Telegraaf, tells all. Not only does he express his remorse and say that his "meltdown" was "disgusting", he reveals the trying conditions he works in. The class he teaches is "very difficult to manage …three out of ten pupils suffer from severe behavioural and emotional problems." Despite such difficulties, teachers have no dedicated back-up. He vents indignation at the statement made by education minister Franck Vandenbroucke "the school did not use sufficient means." "There are no means," retorts the teacher. "There is no budget for child psychiatrists. To have a psychologist wouldn’t exactly be an extravagance."
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