Urban kids should do manual labor: political advisor

BEIJING -- Chinese education authorities should formulate a regulation on manual labor for schoolchildren as many kids in cities even do not clean their own classrooms, a political advisor has proposed.

Feng Shiliang, member of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said Monday he was concerned that manual labor such as sweeping has been outsourced by some urban primary and middle schools to property management companies.

"The students' ability for labor has been strangled," Feng said.

Many children in cities are doing little manual labor, as at home their parents do all the housework and at school labor is taken over by employees of property management companies, Feng added.

He refuted the pretext by some schools that manual labor might be "dangerous" for children. "It might be dangerous to clean windows of tall buildings, but how about the classrooms and playgrounds?"

The advisor said he would submit a proposal to the upcoming annual session of the CPPCC National Committee, the country's top political advisory body, to suggest country's education authorities formulate a regulation on manual labor for schoolchildren.

Feng said Chinese schools should learn from their Japanese counterparts as it is a must for Japanese students to do manual labor and some Japanese schools organize students to work in remote islands and villages.

"We are virtually making our children aristocrats," he said.

The Second Session of the 11th CPPCC National Committee will open Tuesday afternoon and last nine days, said spokesman for the session Zhao Qizheng Monday.

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