A Junior High School Girl in Chenzhou City Is Deprived of Her Education for Promoting "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance"

Ai Dan, a fourteen-year old girl, was a student in the eighth grade at Heyeping Middle School in Chenzhou City in Hunan Province. She started practising Falun Dafa in 1998.

The educators in the school relied on physical punishment instead of moral teachings, and in order to be responsible to the school and the students, Ai Dan tried to suggest to the teachers that they change their educational methods. But nobody listened to her.

In order to encourage people to follow "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance," Ai Dan began to promote Dafa to the teachers and students around her. By the second term in 2001 some of her classmates wanted to practise Falun Dafa and were reading Falun Dafa books. One of the classmates who did not understand Falun Gong reported her to the teacher. Afraid of getting involved, the teacher reported her to the school authorities. The school's headmaster then reported to the district 610 Office (1) and confiscated her copy of "Zhuan Falun" [the main text of Falun Dafa]. He yelled at Ai Dan, "How dare you lead other students to practise Falun Gong!"

Officials from the 610 Office came to the school immediately, ordered the students out of their classes and interrogated them. Under such circumstances, Ai Dan and the other students were forced to write the so-called "guarantee statements,"declaring that they were remorseful for practising Falun Gong, guaranteeing not to practise it again, and promising not to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong or to ever again associate with any Falun Dafa practitioners.

Several days afterwards Ai Dan was very upset. The more she thought about it, the worse she felt: "There is nothing wrong with following 'Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance' to be a good person. Nor is it wrong when I hope that my classmates and teachers care about morality and that they are kind and good people. How could I guarantee not to be a good person?" She went back to the school with resolve and submitted a declaration to the headmaster, stating her determination to practise Falun Dafa. The school officials tried to intimidate her, saying, "You have to leave school if you want to practise Falun Gong." Ai Dan replied, "I will practise Falun Gong even if you dismiss me." Ai Dan was expelled from the school.

Ai Dan's parents were heartbroken when they saw their young child being denied an education. They tried everything, contacted another school, and paid an extra charge of 2000 yuan [500 yuan is the average monthly income for an urban worker in China]. Finally, Ai Dan was allowed to go to school. Officials from Heyeping Middle School, however, came to Ai Dan's new school to turn people against her, making every effort to prevent her from going to school. This caused her new school to keep her from attending.

This young girl was thus deprived of her right to an education, and her case is not an isolated one. I appeal to kind-hearted people and organizations at home and abroad to help children like Ai Dan, who have been denied both an education and their freedom of belief.

Hu Gesheng, the headmaster of Heyeping Middle School, Suxian District, Chenzhou City, Hunan Province, who was responsible: +86-13975751222(M)

(1) The 610 Office is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political or judicial systems.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/4/8/71878.html