Chengdu boxing club to train children without affecting their education

Enbo Fight Club, where more than 40 children were "adopted" and taught to fight rather than go to school, was exposed to the public by a video posted on the internet. The children were sent to their home counties in Sichuan through the arrangements of the local government, Ministry of Education said in September.

Gedoumi, an agency that publishes boxing news and teaching techniques every day, said on its official Sina Weibo account Thursday that Enbo Fight Club has received certification of a sports school by becoming a branch of a sports school in Aba through collaboration with Aba prefecture sports bureau.

When asked for comment, Aba prefecture sports bureau didn't respond to China Daily. The club refused to comment.

Gedoumi posted on its official WeChat account on Wednesday that those children who were sent home in September can go back to not only continue boxing training, but will also get a compulsory education degree recognized by the government.

According to administrative order on sports schools for children and teenagers, issued in 2011, the sports schools should guarantee adequate compulsory education for children when offering sports training.

According to Guancha.cn, a Chinese online news and comments aggregator, a staff member of the club, who did not want to be named, said children would live and train at the club, and receive nine-year compulsory education at the sports school in Chengdu.

Gedoumi's official WeChat account also released a video interview of En Bo, the founder of Enbo Fight Club. He said, "We are truly thankful to the government. Its government's support that is making it possible for these children to finish their compulsory education."

In July, a video showing two 14-year-olds in a boxing ring went viral on the internet in July. The two boys, along with other teenagers, had been trained in wrestling and mixed martial arts by Enbo Fight Club in Chengdu, and they performed in commercial fights.

All of the children were either orphans or "left-behind" children whose parents worked outside their poor and isolated villages in Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture and Aba Tibetan autonomous prefecture.

Some who viewed the video thought the children might acquire skills at the club that would be helpful in supporting themselves in the future. Others criticized the club for exploiting the children and depriving them of access to education.

According to government's investigation, 45 juveniles from Liangshan and Aba were found in the club, including an orphan and 37 children under the age of 16 who should have been in school.