Children of debtors could be banned from attending private high schools

The children of debtors could be barred from attending expensive private high schools, in an effort to pressure their parents into paying their debts.

The idea comes as China recently strengthened a campaign against debtors.

A court in Hengshui, North China’s Hebei Province, wrote a letter in early July to a couple who defaulted on their debts saying their children could be prohibited from studying in private schools with high tuition fees.

The Taocheng district court recommended high schools refuse to enroll the students whose parents are listed as debtors by the court.

The judge recommended that schools should order students of indebted parents who have already enrolled to drop out and attend a public school instead.

“The judicial recommendation could prompt defaulters to pay back the money. And it doesn’t violate students’ rights to be educated because they can still choose public schools,” Zhi Zhenfeng, a legal expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

The letter was published on the public WeChat account of Taocheng district court, citing provisions issued by the Supreme People’s Court to limit defaulters’ from spending on expensive things.

Fujian Quanzhou Foreign Language School, a private school in East China’s Fujian Province, has announced it will conform to a similar request from the education department of Quanzhou, local newspaper Quanzhou Evening News reported.

According to a notification issued by the school, if any newly enrolled student’s parent is confirmed to be a defaulter, the school will not let the student register.