A Chinese primary school has finally responded to the fierce backlash triggered by a controversial questionnaire. While intended to encourage students to thank their parents for their hard work, the survey sparked outrage over “invasive, insensitive questions” about parental occupations.
What caused the row?
The school in China’s central Hubei province, Tianmen, handed out a survey titled “Observation List of Parents’ Occupation” and one of the questions on it asked students if their parents’ jobs were “noisy or smelly”, reported Zonglan news, a state-backed media outlet from Hebei province.
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The survey reportedly had five categories: work time, work challenges, work environment, work achievement, and work content.
The detailed questions under the categories asked the students, “What is your parent’s work environment? Is it hot? Noisy? Smelly?”, “How many hours do they need to sit or stand per day at work?” and “Do they need to work overtime?”.
The other questions reportedly asked students to specify what their parents do or the most difficult part of their work. The questionnaire also asked students to describe the happiest aspects of their parents’ jobs and what gave them the “sense of achievement”.
The survey was criticised as a way for the school to collect information about parents’ occupations. Also, the specific questions sparked outrage on social media.
The school responds:
“What we are doing is guiding pupils to observe their parents at work up close for a day. We hope they can appreciate the hard work and dedication their parents put into their families and to learn to be grateful,” a school spokesperson said in a statement.
“The response from pupils has been generally positive because many of them truly understand how hard their parents have worked,” the official added.
How did social media react?
The school’s explanation prompted mixed reactions on Chinese social media platforms. While some called out the survey, others agreed with the school’s explanation.
An individual wrote, “After learning about parents’ work, they can treat pupils differently.” Another person argued, “I do not think there is any problem with this survey. After all, it does not involve the parents’ companies’ names or specific titles they hold.”
Authorities step in:
According to reports, the Municipal Education Bureau has taken cognisance of the matter after the survey received severe backlash.
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“We have reminded the school to be thoughtful and consider potential impact to the public when they implement activities in the future,” an official from the bureau said.
