Student protests 'fair maiden' classes

A special performance art put on by a group of university students to protest a high school's "fair maidens" classes attracted many pedestrians and onlookers in Guangzhou's Liwan district on Wednesday.

The students held balls of knitting wool and bottles of soy sauce during their performance in front of True Light High School to satirize the school's "fair maiden" classes.

Liang Qi, one of the performers, said women should seek equal opportunities in education and employment.

"Doing household duties and looking after spouses and children should not be always the work of women," she said.

"True Light High School may have discriminated against female students and affected their normal study after they decided to open two 'fair maiden' classes for the senior high school's grade one students starting this year."

The female students' science studies will be affected, and they will lose their advantages in future national entrance exams for universities and colleges if they are grouped into "fair maiden" classes, she added.

Ke Qianting, an associate professor from Guangzhou-based Sun Yatsen University, said high schools should not break down their classes according to students' gender.

"Training fair maidens is a segregation of gender," Ke said.

True Light High School hopes to train noble ladies by opening two classes of fair maidens starting this year, said Xun Wanxiang, headmaster of the school.

In addition to normal courses, the female students in "fair maiden" classes are asked to wear cheongsam to school and learn household work, cooking, sewing and knitting, conversation talent, social etiquettes and related skills and abilities for fair maidens.

The "fair maiden" classes have sparked controversy among locals.