By Vinna Yip

HE'S BEEN described as "roaring like a lion" whenever he scolds his students.

He's so fierce, some students have been reduced to tears. Others are so frightened of him they are afraid to go to school.

History teacher Samuel Lim's teaching methods have upset some of these students' parents.

Mr Lim, 38, is head of the Humanities Faculty at the Hwa Chong International School (HCIS).

He joined the school in January after he was hired by its CEO, Mr Tooh Fee San, to set up the school's humanities faculty.

He teaches Year One, Two, Three and Five students, aged 13 to 17.

But just two months into the job, Mr Lim has already received several complaints against him from unhappy parents.

Mr Tooh confirmed that complaints had been sent to the school and also to the Ministry of Education.

Some parents also contacted The New Paper to express their unhappiness with Mr Lim.

One group of parents said in an e-mail sent to The New Paper: "Mr Samuel Lim's teaching method is to roar and yell like a lion in the class.

"He claimed that his teaching method is the best... (But) the way that he (roars) is frightening and will (scare) the students who are sitting in front of or next to him."

But Mr Lim says he is disciplining the students for their own good. The school agrees with him.

So what makes Mr Lim such a scary teacher?

One mother, whose child is in Year 2, said he suddenly starts shouting in the middle of lessons.

"This scares off students, and affects their studies and performance in other subjects," she said.

Some younger students had even been scolded until they cried, parents claimed.

One parent claimed her Year 2 son and his classmates were too scared to attend history lessons. "If my child can't answer the teacher's questions, he will get shouted at. He's very weak in his studies now," she said.

Another parent, who gave her name only as Madam Lee, added. "Scolding and yelling is not the way to train a child."

A Year 2 student told The New Paper that when Mr Lim shouts, his voice can be heard in neighbouring classes.

He added: "When he comes to class, everyone gets very scared. We cannot concentrate because we keep thinking we're wrong. He makes everyone very nervous."

He claimed Mr Lim would shout at students for not studying hard enough, and would scold them one by one.

"He would go, "You are wasting my time because you don't understand, and that's because you don't listen to me and don't study my notes"," the student said.

Some students even secretly recorded Mr Lim's lessons with their handphones and showed us the clips.

A parent, who gave his name only as Mr Tan, said he had brought the matter up with Mr Tooh, but claimed the latter praised Mr Lim instead, and insisted that his disciplinary method is the best way to teach children.

But Mr Tan insisted: "His teaching method is just not right. It is a mistake that needs to be corrected."

Not all of Mr Lim's students think he is the teacher from hell though.

One said his shouting is "acceptable".

An ex-student noted that while Mr Lim is fierce, he is a good history teacher.

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