China Kindergarten Principal Fired For Accepting Chocolate As Gift From Student

During our formative years, the person we often bond with most closely after our parents is our favourite teacher. This is why, on Teachers’ Day, children often compete to present gifts to their teachers as a gesture of appreciation and affection. Teachers also appreciate these gestures from their students.A similar event occurred in neighbouring China on Teachers’ Day, where a troubling incident unfolded involving a nursery school principal. Something as trivial as accepting a Teacher’s Day gift from a child cost a teacher dearly. This was the case for a teacher who lost her job over a chocolate valued at Rs 60. In China, a nursery school principal, Wang, was dismissed from her position for accepting a small box of chocolates worth approximately Rs 60 in Indian currency from a student. The incident, which occurred at Sanxia Kindergarten in Chongqing, led Wang to take legal action against her former employer after her dismissal in September of the previous year. Surveillance footage revealed the boy handing the chocolate to Wang, who accepted it and hugged him. She later shared the chocolate with other children at the kindergarten.

Wang was informed by the kindergarten that her dismissal was due to her accepting a gift from a student. The nursery claimed that Wang had violated a Ministry of Education rule, which prohibits teachers from requesting or accepting any gifts or money from students or their parents.

Wang subsequently filed a lawsuit at the Jiulongpo District People’s Court. During the initial hearing, the school’s defence argued that accepting the gift, irrespective of its value, breached the Ministry of Education rule and had negatively impacted the kindergarten. The court ruled in March that the kindergarten’s dismissal of Wang was illegal. It determined that the chocolate was given out of affection and respect by the student, and that Wang’s acceptance of it did not constitute a breach of the rule. The court ordered the kindergarten to pay compensation to Wang.

The kindergarten appealed the court’s decision; but in August, the Chongqing No 5 Intermediate People’s Court upheld the original verdict after a second hearing. Wang’s dismissal became a hot topic on mainland social media, garnering 7.2 million views on Douyin, with users unanimously supporting the teacher.