Switzerland-based Education First (EF), which runs 300 schools across 50 Chinese cities, has seen a “significant” increase in
detentions in China for alleged offences including drugs, fighting and
cybersecurity violations, according to a June 27 internal notice sent to
employees and seen by Reuters.
It said EF staff had been “picked up by police at their home and work as well as in bars and nightclubs and have been questioned and
brought in for drug testing”. The notice said the school had also
received warnings from embassies about the rise in arrests.
A spokeswoman for EF declined to comment on the content of the notices but said the company “values our close collaboration with the
Chinese authorities,” adding that it “regularly reminds staff of
important regulatory and compliance policies.”
An international school in Beijing and a teaching agency in Shanghai separately confirmed arrests had risen sharply.
“There’s tremendous pressure for them to keep things clean. It’s all part of (President) Xi Jinping’s idea to make sure that China can show a
good face for the rest of the world,” said Peter Pang, principal
attorney at the IPO Pang Xingpu Law Firm in Shanghai, which represents
foreign teachers in disputes.
China’s Public Security Bureau and Ministry of Education did not respond to requests for comment.The detentions come amid growing
tensions between China and western countries, including the United
States and Australia.China had roughly 400,000 foreign citizens working
in its education industry in 2017, the last year for which official
figures are available, working in schools, colleges and language
institutes.
The industry has long been plagued by abuses on both sides, with many foreign teachers in China working without proper visas and some
schools taking advantage of that vulnerability.Lawyers said a rising
backlash against foreign influence in China’s fiercely nationalistic
education system means even qualified teachers are increasingly
vulnerable to exploitation.
