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△Ningde No. 9 Middle School (provided by the interviewee)

Cover News reporter Song Xiao and intern Zhang Yuanzhong

"How to arrange 77 beds for 112 female students? If they are not selected, they will have to rent a house outside the school? How to ensure safety?" On August 21, Mr. Lin reported to the cover news that his child encountered difficulties when enrolling in the No. 9 Middle School in Ningde City, Fujian Province. The school will enroll 312 freshmen in the fall of 2024, of which 112 girls who need accommodation are faced with the choice of only 77 beds. The school requires a lottery to determine the beds, and the female students who are not selected can only rent a house outside the school. This move caused concern among parents, and they reported it to the school and the Ningde Jiaocheng District Education Bureau.

On August 21, the reporter contacted the principal of the middle school, Mr. Li. He replied that the school's implementation of the accommodation lottery system for boarding students was also a "helpless move" and a "historical problem". From the perspective of parents, he can understand that parents are worried about the safety risks of off-campus accommodation. "Because there is no land certificate, including financial and funding issues, the school has no choice. This is the only way to deal with the current conditions."

A parent in Ningde complains about the "lottery system" for students to enter boarding schools

Mr. Lin said that his child applied for Ningde No. 9 Middle School for the high school entrance examination this year and was admitted. However, when he received the admission notice, he found that the school stated that due to the serious shortage of dormitories for boarding students, it would arrange student accommodation by lottery on August 10.

Later, Mr. Lin learned that the school will enroll 312 freshmen in the fall of 2024, of which 77 beds will be allocated to 112 female students who need accommodation. Mr. Lin wondered, "Why do we have to draw lots to live in the school dormitory? What should the students who are not drawn do?"

The reporter noticed that Ningde No. 9 Middle School is located in Zhangwan Town, east of Jiaocheng District, Ningde City. Its official WeChat account did issue a notice for freshmen on July 31, 2024, which mentioned that in view of the serious shortage of dormitories for boarding students in the school, a lottery for boarding dormitories will be organized in the trapezoidal classroom of Ningde No. 9 Middle School on August 10: the boys' dormitory lottery will start at 8:30 in the morning, and the girls' dormitory lottery will be held at 10:00. "If there is a need for on-campus accommodation, please ask parents or students to go to the school to participate in the lottery. If you are not selected, please rent a private house outside the school."

△ Screenshot of the WeChat public account of Ningde No. 9 Middle School

△ Admissions instructions for freshmen of Ningde No. 9 Middle School (provided by the interviewee)

The safety of students' off-campus accommodation cannot be guaranteed

Mr. Lin said that as a parent, he is worried that the safety and security conditions of private houses outside the school vary. Some houses do not even have basic safety facilities. The surrounding security environment is complicated, which increases the safety risks of students. He believes that the school has the responsibility and obligation to ensure that students' accommodation conditions are safe and healthy and comply with relevant regulations of the education department. "If students rent houses outside the school on their own, it will be difficult for the school to effectively supervise the students' lives and safety, and it will be difficult to provide necessary support and help."

From an economic perspective, Mr. Lin said that the school only needs to spend a few hundred yuan per student per academic year to accommodate students living on campus, but the annual rent for renting a house off campus is higher. In Mr. Lin's opinion, although in some cases the school may allow students to rent a house off campus due to insufficient accommodation conditions, this practice is not allowed from the perspective of law, safety and management. He hopes that the school should actively create conditions to solve the accommodation problem for students. For safety reasons, he reported this concern to the school and the local education bureau, and the other party responded to his opinion.

There is a serious shortage of teaching places and no way to provide more accommodation

On August 14, Mr. Lin's feedback received a reply from the Education Bureau of Jiaocheng District, Ningde City. In the reply, the Education Bureau of Jiaocheng District, Ningde City replied that Jiuzhong (Ningde No. 9 Middle School) is a semi-boarding school with 1,000 students. There are 180 berths for boys and 230 for girls on campus.Due to the 2024 boarding seniors vacating some berths after graduation, there are only 140 berths left in the male and female dormitories. There are 312 freshmen this year, and the remaining berths are far from meeting the accommodation needs of every freshman.

△ Screenshot of the reply made by the Jiaocheng District Education Bureau of Ningde City in response to Mr. Lin’s feedback

△ Screenshot of the reply made by the Jiaocheng District Education Bureau of Ningde City in response to Mr. Lin’s feedback

Secondly, due to historical reasons, the school cannot obtain a property certificate and cannot build new student dormitories. The boys' dormitory is converted from a teaching building. With the development of the school, the number of students has increased year by year, and the current teaching space is seriously insufficient, and there is really no way to provide more accommodation conditions.

In order to ensure the safety of students' accommodation as much as possible, the school has taken a series of measures: First, at the end of July, the school organized teachers to survey the area around the school and found 126 private houses that meet the accommodation conditions, providing some reference and suggestions for students who may need to rent off-campus housing. Second, after the start of school, the school will register the information of students who rent off-campus housing and sign a student rental safety agreement with the landlord. At the same time, the school will work with the Zhangwan Police Station to strengthen the supervision of students who rent off-campus housing. Teachers will be organized to conduct home inspections of students who rent off-campus housing every month, urging landlords to ensure the safety of students who rent off-campus housing.

There are many reasons why schools implement the "lottery system" for boarding schools

On the afternoon of August 21, the reporter also contacted Mr. Li, the principal of Ningde No. 9 Middle School. Principal Li told the reporter that he had explained the problem raised by the parent Mr. Lin. On the one hand, the school faced practical difficulties. It did not have a land ownership certificate and could not build new student dormitories. Many township schools in Jiaocheng District faced this problem. On the other hand, Ningde No. 9 Middle School was not a full-boarding school. When enrolling students, the school had explained to parents that students with needs could consider boarding, and parents also had to play a supervisory role and could not just throw students to school without any care.

Principal Li said that from Mr. Lin's perspective, he could understand the parents' complaints for student safety reasons, but the school's current conditions did not allow it. "We have converted some teaching buildings into dormitories for male students, but unfortunately there are still not enough beds in the dormitories."

In response to Mr. Lin's concerns about the safety of students living off-campus, Principal Li replied that the school actually has a boarding student safety leadership group for the safety management of boarding students. Safety target responsibility letters are signed at all levels, and reports are made at any time, information is fed back in a timely manner, and management is jointly participated in. "We will also organize special personnel to visit students' accommodation conditions regularly. This has been the case for the past few years, and there have been no safety accidents."