Mom’s not married? Then no school for you!

Seven-year-old Xiao Qing’s parents weren’t married when she was born. Considered illegitimate by the state, she’s not allowed to go to school until her mother pays a €900 fee. Not so easy when you’re unemployed…

The parents of children born out of wedlock are forced to pay a hefty fine to make them “legitimate” citizens. Without this, the children can’t go to school until they get their “hukou”, a kind of residency permit delivered by the local authorities’ family planning department. The permit comes at a cost of 9000RMB (€900) - a high price for the potential consequences of sex before marriage.

Xiao Qing’s mother, unemployed and abandoned by Xiao’s father, couldn’t afford to pay the fine. For the past two months she appealed to every relevant authority in Zhuhai (south China) to get her daughter into school. But her plea went unheard by the family planning department, the education department, the sub-district office and the local council. So the single mother tried to catch the attention of the local media. Xiao Qing stood outside Gongbei Xiawan Primary School with a sign that read “I am a local child. I want to receive compulsory education, too!” A local journalist did take pity on the seven-year-old, but when he suggested the idea to his paper they refused it. So Han Tao posted the pictures on his blog. He managed to drum up enough support that the local authorities pledged to allow Xiao to go to school. But when she arrived for her first day, the school refused her, saying they didn’t have enough places.

france24.com