China: 2,000 Jiangsu parents protest against unfair school admission

397 words
19 June 2010
19:48
BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific
BBCAPP
English
(c) 2010 The British Broadcasting Corporation. All Rights Reserved. No material may be reproduced except with the express permission of The British Broadcasting Corporation.
Text of report by Hong Kong Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy on 15 June

[Hong Kong Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy report: "2,000 Residents of Yancheng, Jiangsu, Besiege City Government Building, Clash With Hundreds of Riot Police, 10 People Injured"]

(15 Jun 2010) - -This Centre has learned that on 13 June, 2,000 residents of Yancheng City, Jiangsu, attacked the city government building over chaotic policy regarding advancement from primary to secondary school. Ten people fell to the ground and were injured during pushing and shoving between city residents and several hundred Public Security personnel.

This Centre has learned that recently the Yancheng City government announced that 400 primary school students of "Yancheng Primary School No 1 North School District" (hereafter called for short, "North Primary No 1") would all enjoy the special treatment of direct advancement to Yancheng Middle School, which is the best in the city. The city government's rationale was that the students should get special treatment because their education has been affected by the demolition and relocation of "North Primary No 1." Because Yancheng City has a primary teaching district system of enrolment in neighbourhood schools, other primary school students go to their neighbourhood school and cannot get into Yancheng Middle School. And most of the students at "North Primary No 1" are the children of government officials. For all those students to be allowed direct advancement by exception to Yancheng's best middle school has upset parents of primary school students throughout the city, as they think this is unfair to other students. On the morning of 13 June, two thousand parents of primary school students, together with some of the primary school students, besieged the city government building and demanded equality in education. Several hundred Public Security riot control personnel stood at the entrance to the city government building and blocked the city residents from charging inside. Ten city residents fell to the ground and were injured during pushing and shoving. All of the injured were adults, not children. The demonstration continued for about five hours. The matter has not yet been resolved, and it is anticipated that city residents will besiege the city government building again next Saturday.

Source: Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, Hong Kong, in Chinese 15 Jun 10