A teacher teaches children how to do housework in a kindergarden in Henan province. [Photo/IC]

Pupils in China are required to clean their classroom and tidy their desks once a week. However, reports show that in a primary school in Changsha, capital of Central China's Hunan province, parents decided to collect money and hire cleaning staff to do the labor instead of their pupils. Comments:

The parents might think they are caring for their children but they are actually spoiling them. If they practice such "love" every day, the pupils will only see clean rooms without knowing what it takes to tidy them and enjoy good meals everyday without knowing how they are cooked. Fifteen years later when they step into society, they will lack any common sense and understanding of daily life and so regret their spoiled childhoods.

guangyuanol.cn, Oct 13

The reason why schools ask pupils to tidy their own classrooms is not to save money, but rather to cultivate the youngsters' sense of independence and promote teamwork. By hiring cleaning staff, the parents are actually depriving their children of the opportunity of receiving this education, which is unfair to them.

Henan Daily, Oct 13

When the children find some hired staff can do their job, they might blindly worship money; even take it for granted they can hire people to do their dirty work. The school has carefully divided the cleaning tasks so that every class gets its fair share according to the pupils' age and ability. We do not think it a good idea to hire cleaning staff and will refuse to allow them to enter the school.

The Hunan-based Morning Herald, quoting the headmaster of the involved school, Oct 13