Source: Direct Reports from China
Date: May 27, 2018
Recently, Bitter Winter has received many reports of discrimination against Christian students in public schools.
On April 27, 2018, Wang Chenyang (pseudonym, male, 13 years old), a 5th grader in the city of Zhucheng, Shandong Province, was disqualified from participating in the celebration performance for the upcoming Children’s Day by his school’s principal, only because of his Christian faith.
On the afternoon of that day, after Wang and his classmates finished the rehearsal of their performance, the principal walked into the classroom and announced that anyone who had a religious belief was not allowed to participate in the performance. Since then, Wang was excluded from the rehearsals, despite being recognized as one or the most skilled performers.
Wang was raised in a Christian family and has always been a Christian. Three or four years ago, the school started investigating each student, and identified those who were Christian.
In May, at a parent meeting, the principal emphasized that students are not allowed to participate in religious activities.