Shanghai Teen Barred From School Fights Policy Hurting Millions
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A 15-year-old girl’s wish to go to school in Shanghai has landed her father in jail and sparked a national debate over a national-registration policy that deprives millions of Chinese of basic rights.
Zhan Haite’s parents left their home in Jiangxi in 1994, first for Zhuhai in the south, and later headed northeast to Shanghai, in 2002. Under a system imposed by Chairman Mao Zedong, they’re still registered in Jiangxi, and can’t automatically get benefits such as social security and access to local schools for their three children anywhere else. After attending primary and junior schools in Shanghai, Zhan was rejected from high school.