In a rural junior high school in a prefecture-level city in South China, the issue of students not getting enough to eat due to the corruption of a school principal has sparked heated discussions on the Chinese social media platform Weibo.
According to a report by “China News Weekly” on May 22nd, the vice principal of the junior high school, Huang Kaihua (pseudonym), had about 20 handwritten complaint letters from students in his office drawer. The letters were not signed with real names, with some simply labeled as “a group of hungry students.”
These letters were dropped into the principal’s mailbox by students and then passed on to Huang Kaihua by the then principal, Lian Jinfeng (pseudonym). However, Huang Kaihua casually stuffed the letters into his drawer without taking any further action.
The school, with a history of nearly 70 years, is surrounded by mountains and has over a thousand students enrolled.
The report revealed that the head of the school cafeteria, Zhang Yunbao (pseudonym), had been embezzling student meal fees for 11 consecutive years. His methods included shortchanging on food portions and substituting inferior ingredients for quality ones. Zhang Yunbao colluded with his cousin’s business to manipulate the prices, resulting in profits from a student lunch priced at only 7 yuan amounting to over 2 yuan after the collaboration of Zhang Yunbao, Huang Kaihua, Lian Jinfeng, and the supplier. After the individuals involved in the scandal were investigated, more than twenty people in the area voluntarily surrendered.
Most of the students come from humble backgrounds, with many residing in rural areas. The daily meal fee of 17 yuan (3 yuan for breakfast and 7 yuan for both lunch and dinner) poses a challenge for parents who can only afford to pay on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. A homeroom teacher mentioned that parents sacrifice their own meals to pay for their children’s meals, yet the children still end up not getting enough to eat. Some students frequently raised this issue with him, hoping he would convey their concerns to the school.
The homeroom teacher expressed, “We have raised the issue with school leaders, but we have not seen any improvement. I can only advise fellow students to be kind and sweet-mouthed when the cafeteria serves the meals, hoping that the cafeteria staff will add more rice for them.”
The incident occurred in May 2024, and in October of the same year, Zhang Yunbao and Huang Kaihua were sentenced to 1 year and 3 months and 1 year in prison, respectively, for corruption. Lian Jinfeng, besides being implicated in the “school meal” issue, was found to have other serious legal violations and the case is still pending.
This incident has sparked widespread attention on social media.
Weibo influencer “Naughty Guo Beile” commented, “The ones at the top take a bit less, and there would be enough for everyone below. Students can’t eat their fill, the lower ranks earn less, so why not let those in power take a bit less. It’s not that there’s no money, it’s just that there’s none left for you. When those above have taken their share, naturally, you won’t have enough to eat. The meals of students and the livelihoods of employees have been shamelessly squeezed dry.”
Video blogger and Weibo influencer “Yelei Xinlei” lamented, “This is such a tragic situation, but the warning it sends is still not strong enough. It has chilled the hearts of children, parents, and the entire nation. Are there still such cases in other schools? I refuse to believe there aren’t. It’s not uncommon to hear about money being embezzled from students nationwide. How many more elementary and junior high school principals are like this?”
Weibo influencer “Lao Shi Says Renovation” questioned, “Why does it take so long for such incidents to come to light? This is something worth pondering. Perhaps the regular monitoring isn’t sufficient, or it’s too formalized. Implementing a solution can be as simple as having parents take turns managing the cafeteria, not allowing the cafeteria to be outsourced. Let the parents automatically oversee the cafeteria, and the problem will be solved.”