School must delete notice limiting admissions by home size

The education bureau in Luohu district of Shenzhen, Guangdong province, has demanded a primary school to delete a notice which sets restrictions for students whose houses are not big enough to enter the school.

All students living near the school will be admitted, regardless of how big their houses are, the bureau said on Thursday in a statement, adding that it felt deeply sorry for causing concerns among parents.

According to the original notice put up by Shenzhen Luoling Foreign Language Experimental School on Tuesday, students who live in houses measuring less than 30 square meters should live in the region for more than six years in order to be admitted to the school.

For houses between 30 to 50 sq m, students should live there for more than four years, and for houses larger than 50 sq m, it is one year, the notice said.

The school does not have enough positions for all students in the region and in order to prevent parents in other regions from buying small houses to get into the school, it decided to implement the new regulation starting from 2019, it said.

Primary and middle school students in China should be admitted to the nearest schools without taking any entry examination, according to the compulsory education law. Sometimes, parents will buy small and often very expensive houses in a good school district so that their children can gain admission.