Spurned mothers in desperate, suicidal stand-off for their kids’ education

Dushi Nubao 30 Aug 2012

The front page of City Lady (都市女报), a newspaper focused on women’s issues published in Jinan (济南), Shandong (山东) province, today features two stories on two controversial issues related to education. The front page displays three images and the story of an incident that occurred on Tuesday this week at a school in Nanchang (南昌) in Jiangxi (江西) province. The incident arose when the mothers of three children, who do not hold a local residence permit (户口), were refused enrolment for their children at the school. In desperation, the three mothers climbed on the window sill and threatened to jump out. Local fire fighting and public security officials rushed to the scene, but negotiations with the mothers were deadlocked for almost two hours, until they were finally forcibly pulled away from the window. When news of the incident was reported, commentators online were sympathetic to the desperate women who were willing to jump out of the window to obtain education for their children.

Just below this headline and images on the front page follows a second headline: If restrictions are placed on girls, will the country benefit? The article discusses allegations that many universities in China place restrictions on the number of girls enrolled in higher education to maintain some balance in the male/female ratio because girls’ grades are on average higher than those of boys. Public figures active in gender issues have requested the Ministry of Education to make public all standards for enrolment at Chinese universities. Some female lawyers have also offered free legal services to girls who believe they have been penalized in college entrance exams due to their gender.

Two lawyers who made enquiries with the Ministry of Education received the following note of reply: The small minority of institutions that adjust the proportion of boys and girls do so according to the national interest.

See the rest of the article by following the link below.

Links and sources
City Lady (为让孩子有学上三位母亲要跳楼)
City Lady (女生受限制,国家得利益?)
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