XI'AN - Teachers in northwest China were warned against inapporpriate methods after a pupil was hospitalized when his classmates slapped him under the orders of their schoolteacher.

On December 10, Luo Yali, an elementary schoolteacher in Shaanxi Province, ordered students in her maths class to take turns to hit the ears of a pupil who failed to do his homework, according to an official investigation.

The probe was launched after the slapping case caused public anger about school brutality.

The student, who has not been named, was hospitalized for physical and psychological trauma.

Luo, the 22-year-old teacher, and the principal of the Hongshan Township Nine-Year School in the city of Ankang was sacked.

"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 can not take it," the injured student's grandmother surnamed Chi told reporters.

She said her grandson revealed in his diary that a person with stronger self-esteem may have thought of suicide after being treated this way.

In a circular, Shaanxi provincial educational department on Saturday said though the slapping was an isolated case, it was very bad and lessons shall be learnt.

The educational authorities said it plans an overhaul to stop teachers' malpractices such as brutality, insults and discrimination towards students.

Luo apologized and offered a financial remedy to the student's family. The school also covered part of the medical expanses.

The student has now returned to school after treatment, the authorities said.

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.