State of Education in China

The following accounts were said to have occurred in the 1990s, but have they been totally eradicated?

In Hunan (湖南), teachers reportedly ordered their students on to the streets to sell apples.

In Shanghai (上海), teachers were found peddling boiled eggs and ice-cream.

In Guangzhou (广州), teachers disrupted classes in order to train pupils as professional mourners at funerals, who were in turn hired out at 5 yuan per head.

In some schools, teachers touted for business on behalf of insurance companies and publishers, and local governments levied fees to cover the cost of textbooks.

The more fees that were levied, the more children dropped out. And good teachers often resigned, go into business, or become local government cadres.

Even at the renowned Peking University (北京大学), students complained about the terrible food in the canteens, the cramped living quarters in which they slept six to a dormitory room with bunk beds but no space for a desk, and the very restricted library opening times.