Local response: Parents claim that the school's mandatory duty station affects their ability to work. Parents | Huiji District | School
Recently, a netizen left a message on the message board of People's Daily, stating, "Green Source Experimental Primary School in Huiji District, Zhengzhou, Henan Province forces parents to take turns on duty and cannot be absent. The arranged period of duty happens to coincide with work hours, which means that parents need to take a day off to stand guard."
On June 25th, Huiji District replied, "The safety of children's education is a concern for every parent, and the school's arrangement of duty is also out of responsibility for the children. Everyone takes turns standing guard, and the time occupied by your work for a semester is limited. Not only the school your child attends, but schools in other districts also have similar regulations. If all parents do not want to pay and only want to enjoy the convenience brought by other parents' contributions, it is also unfair, right?"
In the reply, Huiji District also mentioned, "The school has indicated that it is possible to make private adjustments, and family members can also participate, or take a short vacation. There are many solutions."
On July 13th, staff from the Education Bureau of Huiji District told Pengpai News that the school's requirement for parents to be on duty should be organized by the school and not required by the Education Bureau.
Public information shows that Lvyuan Experimental Primary School is a public school located at the northeast corner of the intersection of Lvyuan Road and Huifeng Street. The school covers an area of 14108 square meters and has fixed assets of over 30 million yuan.
Pengpai News has noticed that there are many precedents in many parts of the country for primary school parents to take turns standing guard, which has repeatedly attracted public attention.
For example, in May 2023, a complaint about a school in Jingyan County, Leshan, Sichuan Province, requesting parents to take turns on duty, sparked heated discussions. The complaint claims that the school's requirements are excessive. "Students are under the management of the school during their time in school. If parents need to occasionally help, it is okay, but how do parents work and live by scheduling and checking in like they do at work?"
In response to this, the Education Bureau of Jingyan County stated that the "School Protection Post" established in the county since 2019 is mainly responsible for maintaining public order and road traffic order in areas where students are likely to gather outside the school gate during the school and after-school periods. The implementation scope includes various primary and secondary schools and kindergartens in Jingyan County. The response also stated that "this behavior is not inappropriate, and if parents do have something to delay, they can communicate and adjust with the school in a timely manner.".
Local media in Henan have previously reported that parents of students were required to take turns standing guard on duty.
According to a report by Henan Business Daily in October 2018, Zhengzhou University Experimental Primary School has arranged a duty table for each parent to be on duty at the school gate, directing traffic for four periods a day. Some parents have reported that this arrangement makes them "breathless". The Education Bureau of Zhengzhou High tech Zone responded that the transportation duty around the school is indeed the responsibility of the school, and each school can choose different management methods, but mandatory parental duty is not allowed. A person in charge of the office of Zhengzhou University Experimental Primary School explained that in order to ensure the safety of the children, the school, in conjunction with the family committee, has recruited parent volunteers, along with the school's duty teachers and security guards, to work together on duty, and the participation of parents in duty is voluntary.
