Mother seems to seek favor of teacher

The mother of a student from Putian, Fujian province, found herself in the social media spotlight recently when a screenshot of her WeChat exchange with a teacher was exposed. It listed the social status of a number of relatives, which some said was an attempt to influence the teacher to favor the daughter.

In the chat history - normally available solely on the phone of the sender or recipient - the mother, Wang Chao, mentioned family members, including her husband, her father and her cousin's husband in asking the teacher, surnamed Liao, to pay "more attention" to her daughter.

The statement listed the employment positions various family members occupy in government organizations. All those listed were public servants.

According to the WeChat record, the woman's husband is a legal professional at the intermediate court of Putian; her father works for the city's disciplinary inspection commission; her cousin's husband heads the human resources department of the city's education bureau and she herself is a staff member of the city's tourism development board.

The teacher replied simply with "OK" and a smiling face emoji.

All students are treated equally and are not differentiated by family background, according to a statement released on Friday by Fengmei Primary School, which Wang's daughter attends.

On Friday, a person identified only as a staff member from the city's education bureau told thePaper that the content of the screenshot had been verified, but no further information was available.

The Putian Commission for Discipline Inspection told the Chongqing-based Shangyou News that it has launched an investigation.

Xiong Bingqi, deputy director of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, said the hyper-competitive environment of Chinese education has driven some parents to do whatever they think is necessary to secure the best treatment possible for their children.

"However, trying to intimidate teachers with family relations is not the way to ask for special care. It also sets a bad example for the students," Xiong said.

"Children should be taught to compete on the basis of their own ability, not who their parents are."