A 15-year-old girl in Shanghai is striving for equal education opportunities in China's major cities after being denied access to high school because she didn't have the right residence permit.
According to local policy Zhan Haite's hukou is registered in another province and can only go to a local Shanghai vocational school or go back to Jiangxi Province for high school.
Zhan has initiated a campaign on China's largest micro-blogging website, Sina Weibo, and has started a nationwide debate.
Shengjian, a Shanghai native, says on weibo.com,
"Shanghai is not your hometown; you have to comply with regulations here if you want to continue your life in the city. Your demands for a fair education opportunity are actually asking Shanghai to lower its standards. "
Sun Haigang, a professor from Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, says on scmp.com,
"Some Shanghai natives call people like Zhan Haite "locusts". It's completely wrong. They need to understand people coming from other places and working in Shanghai are not locusts that want only to eat all your leaves and crops, but are intelligent creatures that actually create wealth and provide services for the city, and thus deserve respect. "
Wang Pan, a media commentator, says on nhaidu.com,
"The father of Zhan Haite was detained by local district police for "disrupting public order". The landlord of Zhan's family threatened to end their rental contract ahead of time because of "pressure from local authorities". It seems like the whole city is trying hard to edge out a migrant worker family. As an international metropolis, Shanghai, why are you so intolerable?! "
