Children have the right to school education

A MAN IN LUZHOU, Southwest China’s Sichuan province, reportedly forced his daughter to drop out of school in 2005 when she was 10, so he could teach her at home. China Youth Daily commented on Tuesday:

The 21-year-old youth, who does not have the knowledge to pass a middle school exam, has fallen victim to her paranoid father’s experiment. Many worry that she might struggle to live on her own in the future, given her limited interaction with her peers and society as a whole.

Although admitting his home-taught daughter lags well behind those youths of her age who went to school, the man still believes his educational experiment has been a success.

He refused to change his decision even after his wife filed a lawsuit against him and a court ruled he should reinstate the girl in school as soon as possible.

Despite the man’s stubbornness, the local authorities should have corrected his mistake and sent his daughter back to school a long time ago. They failed to do so by turning a blind eye to his refusal to obey the court ruling issued 11 years ago.

The case highlights the need to make sure parents fully respect the right to education of their children. School education has its flaws, but it at least provides a healthy environment for youngsters to grow up and study.

However well-educated some parents may be, they cannot replace school education and campus-based interactions.

In other words, parents do not have the decisive say in who their children can and should be. It takes more than basic knowledge to help a child live up to his or her potential.