Teacher jailed for chopping pupil's finger

A court in eastern China has sentenced a teacher to eighteen months in jail for cutting off part of a pupil's finger.

The teacher is reported to have been angry with the six-year-old after he misbehaved in class.

A BBC correspondent in Shanghai says the case is the latest in a series of violent incidents in Chinese schools, which one newspaper said had reached worrying proportions. China has now announced that all teachers will be assessed for competence.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service