SHENZHEN Baihe Foreign Language School has been disqualified from recruiting students across school districts, according to a document released by Shenzhen Municipal Education Bureau, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported.

It was confirmed by the bureau that the school had organized academic tests to evaluate 11,104 primary school students for enrollment during its Open Days, May 11 and 12, which was in violation of the ban on schools organizing tests to enroll students during the compulsory education period.

According to the document, the Open Days activities involve a large number of test questions and test materials on different subjects that were aimed at selecting the top students.

The bureau considered such behavior as going seriously against the policy on student enrollment of the Ministry of Education, the provincial education department and the municipal education bureau.

The school was disqualified from attending annual excellence and advancement evaluations for the years 2019, 2020 and 2021, and the school’s headmaster also received relevant punishment.

The document requested that Longgang District Education Bureau urge the school to strictly implement the student recruitment policy and enroll students simultaneously along with public schools. When the number of applicants exceeds the enrollment plan, school seats should be allocated randomly by a computer system.

It is also mentioned that all kinds of enrollment behaviors aimed at selecting the top students in the compulsory education period seriously disrupt the enrollment order, cause adverse effects on the physical and mental health of students, intensify the anxiety of parents and encourage such irregularities as operating off-campus training institutions.

The document pointed out that all primary and secondary schools should uphold a scientific view of education quality and make great efforts to enhance comprehensive quality of students’ education. Education authorities across the city should further tighten management and oversight on student enrollment.

According to rules on student recruitment, students should attend the schools in their school district during the nine year compulsory education period.

(Zhang Yu)