Henan Teacher Recruits Underage Students for Work in Zhejiang Factory

November 3, 2006

A teacher in Shenqiao village, Henan province, recruited 84 female students from her school in July to work in a can factory in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, according to an August 10 article from Beijing Evening News. The students ranged in age from 12 to 16 years old. According to the Beijing Evening News report, the teacher told the students that they would work eight hours a day and that food, lodging, and transportation would be provided.

A teacher in Shenqiao village, Henan province, recruited 84 female students from her school in July to work in a can factory in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, according to an August 10 article from Beijing Evening News. The students ranged in age from 12 to 16 years old. According to the Beijing Evening News report, the teacher told the students that they would work eight hours a day and that food, lodging, and transportation would be provided. Students discovered harsh working conditions on arrival, and four students eventually escaped from the factory to alert their parents. Authorities rescued the remaining children. Two children were injured during their time at the factory, according to the report. The Beijing Evening News report did not disclose whether or not the teacher was detained, charged, or otherwise punished.

A similar case was reported in April when teachers from a school in Shaanxi province arranged for some 600 underage students to work in electronic factories in Dongguan city, Guangdong province. In one factory, some 240 students worked on assembly lines for up to 14 hours a day. The school called the students' employment a "work-study program," according to the report.

As the CECC noted in its 2006 Annual Report, the use of child labor in some regions of China is reportedly on the rise, according to analyses over the past year by NGOs with expertise on Chinese labor issues. State-controlled media reported in June that the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Labor and Social Security intensified their efforts "to fight illegal employment of child laborers," suggesting that the government is more concerned about such abuses than before. Article 15 of the Labor Law prohibits employing children under the age of 16, and Article 94 provides for punishment of businesses that employ children, including revocation of their business licenses.