Chinese boy, 7, expelled on first day of school for being 'too naughty'

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A 7-year-old Chinese boy is now in limbo after being expelled from school on the first day of the academic semester for being "too mischievous", in a puzzling incident marked by a blame game between the boy's parents and school administration.

Like other fathers across China, Fan was excited to send his son to primary school a few days ago as a new academic semester started. But soon after dropping his child at school, the man received a call from the student's teacher.

The instructor was asking Fan to pick up his son as the administration of the Yellow River Bilingual Experimental School located in Ji'nan, east China’s Shandong Province, had agreed to kick the first grader out.

The school alleged, according to the parents, that the young boy was extremely active for the school to handle. They were told that he kept running around, was "too naughty" and that he needed to be taken back home.

The letter of school admission of Fan's son. /Photo via Iqilu

Fan told local news portal Iqilu that it was unacceptable to determine whether a child has the right to attend school within a few hours or just because he was active.

Unable to contact the higher echelons of the school's administration, Fan took his case to the local education bureau seeking help.

Officials from the department accompanied Fan to the school and met with the headmaster, Gu Changxin, who provided a different account than that of the parents.

Gu said that the academic institution would never dismiss a student without the parents' permission, noting that Fan had proposed letting the child go, a decision fan branded as "impulsive".

The Yellow River Bilingual Experimental School. /Photo via dzwww.com

Can the student go back to school? No.

Gu noted the decision was taken by the school board and that the procedure of dismissing the kid is already over.

Finding a new school is now a challenge for the kid and his parents.

"The problem now is that applying for other schools is too late, and also we are not locals," said Fan.

Being from Jiangsu, Fan's hukou, or household register, does not allow him at the moment to enroll his son in public schools. However, recent measures adopted in some Chinese cities are changing this situation, allowing equal educational opportunities for residents regardless of their hukou status and paving the way for larger scale reforms.

Fan added that with the lack of other alternatives, he would send his kid to school back in their hometown in Jiangsu Province.

According to a report published by the Chinese Ministry of Education in July this year, there were 177,600 primary schools across China in 2016. A total of 17.5 million students were enrolled, accounting for a net enrollment rate of 99.92 percent.