Parents protest school transfer

Parents of students who attend a primary school in Haidian district gathered at the campus gates Monday morning to protest over the last-minute decision to move all grade five pupils to another school one kilometer away.

The parents, whose children attend The Elementary School Affiliated to Renmin University of China, said they are concerned over the safety and security of the new campus. The move involves 600 students in the grade, all around 10 years old.

"This [Monday] is the second day we've gathered here, and so far no agreement has been reached between us and the school," said one parent, surnamed Wang, whose son is in the fifth grade.

Many parents kept the students home Monday for the first full day of the new semester.

The school first informed parents on Friday by text message or phone call, said Wang. The message said that all fifth grade pupils were to be transferred to Yinyan campus about one kilometer away from the original campus.

"Why did the school inform us at the beginning of a new term when they could have told us earlier? We had no preparation," she said.

"Besides, the safety standard of the new campus is awful," Wang said.

The classrooms at Yinyan are smaller but have around 45 tables and seats squeezed in, blocking the back doors of each classroom.

"If there's a fire, how can the pupils escape?" she asked.

The parents are also concerned about the proximity of a construction site to the school. Zhang, another parent, said that the migrant workers who live in the building beside the playground could pose a danger.

"They could enter the campus via the windows of the building facing towards the playground," she said.

The school had promised an answer to parents by Sunday, said Zhang.

"But when we arrived at the school the next day, their answer was that the campus transfer would continue as planned," Zhang said.

But parents were surprised when the school sent the fifth grade teachers to ask parents to accept the move on Sunday, either by phone or visit.

"They tried to persuade us to stop our protests against the school's decision. They had a threatening tone in their voices," Wang claimed.

"They said we should change our mind for the sake of our children," she said.

An anonymous media officer from the Renmin elementary school said that they were prepared for the parents' strong reaction to the move, the Beijing News reported, although the report did not say how they were prepared.

A tutor, surnamed Jin, told the paper that the move is because the school is already oversubscribed.

"Yinyan Elementary School was combined with the Renmin elementary school this year, and the infrastructure within this new campus is being improved now," Jin told the Beijing News.

According to a report on Chinese Radio Network's website, Yinyan's student body, numbering around 600, was absorbed by the Renmin elementary school, necessitating the transfer of the students.

The fifth grade was chosen as it was felt the move might affect the top sixth grade too much in the year prior to graduation, the report said.

The elementary school refused to comment to the Global Times Monday.

The parents have sent a letter with their requests to Renmin University, said Wang, but no response has been given.

A female media officer from Renmin University, surnamed Gao, told the Global Times that she needs to check on the matter, as this was the first she heard of it.

In the meantime, a majority of parents plan on keeping their child at home.

"We want the school to withdraw their decision over this. Otherwise, we won't give up until our request is met," Zhang said.