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Scrap arbitrary school charges

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-02-27 07:40

Recently a primary school in Chongqing began to charge its pupils "homework correction fees" . This sort of ridiculous measure to extract money from students must be stopped, commented an article on the website focus.cnhubei.com. The following is an excerpt:

It is common sense that teachers should examine and correct the homework of students. However, a primary school in Chongqing takes it as an "extra service", and charges money for it. Every pupil is required to pay a 200-yuan "homework correction fee" for each subject, which aggravates the already heavy financial burdens of their parents. And this is only the tip of the iceberg at primary and secondary schools.

Although we admit that the incomes of many teachers are not high, the central government has already declared that the salary of primary and secondary school teachers should equal that of civil servants.

Hence there is no reason schools should levy arbitrary charges. The school headmaster, who manages the school as a business, should be held responsible.

(China Daily 02/27/2009 page6)