On August 25, during the enrollment of new students at the Zhejiang Taizhou Linhai City Zhe Business School Head Gate Port Branch School, the school requested parents to fill in their educational background, work units, and positions, and upload photos of their educational qualifications, specifying that they would be verified one by one after the students were assigned to classes. Following questioning of this practice, it was subsequently halted.
Zhejiang Taizhou netizens reported on August 25 that during the enrollment of new students at the Zhe Business School Head Gate Port Branch in Linhai City, Zhejiang issued a system message requesting parents to provide the names, contact numbers, work units of fathers and mothers, and upload photos of their educational qualifications, with homeroom teachers set to verify them individually after the students were placed in classes. Netizens questioned the legality of collecting family information in this manner.
According to a report by “Lychee News” on August 27, school staff mentioned that this was to improve the information of new students, understand family situations better to educate children effectively. The process is currently under review, and there is no immediate need for submission.
Subsequently, this news quickly made its way to the top trending topics on Weibo.
Mother-infant care blogger “Swallow Carrying Fresh Mud” stated, “Isn’t it usually just the work unit and contact number that are required when filling in information? Why the need to verify the father’s education? Does a child’s academic performance have to be tied to the father’s qualifications? Is the child automatically labeled based on the father’s educational background?”
Internet analyst “Tech Guru – Nana” expressed in a post, “Now parents have to ‘compete in academic qualifications and jobs’ for their children to go to school. Ordinary families are already anxious due to the intensifying competition in education, and by conducting this kind of information gathering at schools, it only adds to the parents’ psychological burden, creating unnecessary comparisons.”
Video blogger “Still the Old Disc” posted, “They claim it’s to understand the family situations of students, but in reality, it categorizes students into different levels, determining who can be provoked and who cannot, allowing school leaders to keep their hands clean. However, the essence of education is fairness, aiming for a world where there are no superiors or inferiors, rather than creating different classes. So, is this still considered education?”
Emotional blogger “Saoirse is Freedom” remarked, “After the exposure, it was halted, does this mean that filling in this information is not mandatory? When enrolling, parents are not only required to provide the father’s educational background and job details but also have to upload graduation certificates, with claims of individually verifying them after class assignments. While they say it’s for the convenience of educating children, it inevitably raises doubts. Do parents’ conditions determine a premature ranking of students?”
“Education should always be fair. The child’s abilities have no connection to the parents’ qualifications. I hope that in the future, information collection is handled with sensitivity, to prevent parental anxiety and to uphold the fairness that should exist within schools.”
Similar incidents have been occurring frequently as of late.
In early June, a public kindergarten in Xiangcheng Town, Xiangyun County, Dali, Yunnan, requested parents to provide proof of their income and business operation records for individual businesses. Families who owned properties were also asked to provide proof of property ownership and utility payments.
In late June, in the enrollment information collection form of Dongying City First High School in Shandong, not only were parents required to fill in details of their work units and positions, but there was also a specific section for “Family Vehicle Information,” mandating details like the brand, model, purchase price of the vehicle, and even the family’s debt situation.
On May 6th, a netizen from Hubei shared a form titled “Parent Occupation Observation Sheet” on social media, claiming it was assigned as homework to students during the “May Day” holiday. The form included questions such as, “What is the work environment of the parents like? Is it hot or noisy? Any particular smells?”,”Approximately how many hours do the parents stand or sit during work?”,”Do they work overtime?”,”What exactly do the parents do?”