China kindergarten girl, 6, expelled over dish-washing ordeal after father accuses teacher of being ‘malicious’

The plight of a six-year-old girl who was ordered to wash dishes at school for three weeks and then expelled after her father complained about the workload has caused an uproar on mainland social media.

On November 22, the girl’s father, surnamed Yu, from Tongliao in Inner Mongolia, northern China, uploaded a video in which he claimed she had been burdened with washing up for her entire class of 25 children for 20 consecutive days.

“In the beginning, she would come home drenched in sweat, saying how tired she was,” Yu told Jiupai News.

“One night, she woke up in the middle of the night and said, ‘Daddy, I don’t want to go to kindergarten anymore. I’m too tired from washing dishes. While other kids were playing, I was left alone to wash the dishes’.”

Yu described his daughter’s teacher as “malicious”.

Surveillance footage shows the little girl carrying a dish tub with items in it. Photo: Weibo

“The kindergarten’s justification was that they wanted to toughen up my kid,” he said. “They also claimed that she was too ‘lively’ and she would only have a nap when she was tired.”

He said after he raised the issue his daughter became a target of bullies: “After I exposed the incident, the kindergarten started to take revenge on my kid,” he claimed.

Her grandparents discovered she had been expelled from the kindergarten one day when they went to pick her up.

“We were left in the dark, provided no reason or prior notice from the kindergarten,” Yu told Qianliyan Sohu. “To date, the teacher has not faced me or offered any explanation.”

The kindergarten principal said the school would start legal proceedings against the girl’s father for spreading false information and tarnishing the institution’s reputation.

A legal advisor to the kindergarten said it had never engaged in illegal or inappropriate conduct towards children, adding that it retains the right to expel a student if she fails to follow the rules and regulations.

“It is possible that children are asked to assist with carrying trays and tableware, but not only his child,” the legal advisor said. “Children also consider helping the teacher an honourable thing to do.”

On November 23, the local educational authority announced it would investigate, adding that the results of the inquiry would be made public.

The incident has sparked criticism on mainland social media.

“They made her do hard labour and then expelled her. This kindergarten is behaving inhumanely,” said one online observer.

Opinion online has come down firmly on the side of the father and against the kindergarten. Photo: Shutterstock

“They never provided a clear explanation for expelling the child, merely citing a violation of the kindergarten’s rules and regulations. What rules and regulations could a six-year-old child have possibly violated?” said another.

“It is the teacher who should be expelled, and the principal should be held accountable. The innocent kid, what did she do wrong?” added a third.