A teacher gestures as she gives a class at Xinxing School, a primary school for migrant children, Dec. 30, 2004, in Beijing, China. (Photo : Getty Images)
A pregnant teacher has sparked outrage in eastern China for reportedly asking her students' parents to fill in for her before she goes back from maternity leave.
Wang Baolan, a teacher at No.2 High School in Zhumadian, Henan Province is accused by parents of not watching over students doing homework during their daily after-school class, according to a report from China Daily on Thursday.
The parents said it was "unfair" for them to be expected to do the teacher's job and pay for her absence, the report said.
"Many parents were opposed to the arrangement but didn't know what to do. Some had to leave after the Spring Festival holiday as they work in other cities, and it's impossible for them to show up at their children's after-school class," said one parent who declined to give his name.
The school said the decision was made by the school's parent's committee and that the teacher was unaware of it.
"Our school had arranged for a substitute to stand in for Wang Baolan," said Wang Wei, director of the school's administrative office.
"But some parents were worried that their children's learning would be affected as the new teacher wouldn't know the students, so they came up with the idea of taking turns to attend the after-school class, with those who could not make it paying some money as compensation," he added.
Wang Wei said that both the school and Wang Baolan had requested the parent's committee to refund the money they have collected.
"We strongly oppose the parents' committee's actions," Wang Wei said, noting that the school will strictly adhere to national regulations to avoid any legal penalties.
Most of China's primary and middle school teachers are female, leading to a shortage of teachers when they become pregnant especially after the lifting of the one-child policy, China Daily reported.
"Female teachers have the right to take maternity leave, but schools should make arrangements so that students are not affected," Zhu Shuyuan, a resident at Zhumadian whose child is a junior middle school student, was quoted in the report as saying.
