The Ministry of Education has urged teachers across the country to avoid accepting gifts from students or their parents on the occasion of Teachers' Day, which falls on Friday.

The ministry posted the proposal on its website on Sept 6, a day after 10 primary and high schools suggested the idea.

The proposal, which has been hailed by the Chinese public, aims to "promote the country's educational equity and safeguard the respectable image of teachers", it said.

According to a recent survey conducted by China Youth Daily's Social Research Center, 62 percent of the 4,083 people polled supported the idea of prohibiting teachers from accepting gifts from students or their parents.

Some 68 percent of the respondents claimed to be parents of school-going children.

Only 9 percent of those who participated in the online poll believe gifts are the "only way to fully express their gratitude to teachers", while a whopping 65 percent think parents bribe teachers with gifts so that they pay special attention to their children.

Some 58 percent also expressed fears that their children might suffer if they don't give gifts to their teachers.

"I was astonished when I realized that everyone around me gave gifts to their children's teachers," said Zhou Yan, whose son is enrolled in a Beijing-based kindergarten.

"So I also started sending gifts to the teachers, not expecting them to take better care of my son, but hoping they will treat him fairly," she said.

When asked of the best way to thank teachers, 58 percent of the respondents said a phone call or a visit on Teachers' Day works, compared with only 7 percent who said they would pack an expensive gift.

"Teachers feel extremely happy if their students respect them and express gratitude for the work they do," said Zhang Xiaoli, a Beijing parent. "So I make it a point to keep in touch with my former teachers. They feel very happy to know a student from 10 years ago still remembers them."

Keeping in mind the limited educational resources in the world's most populous country, it is common for Chinese parents to send gifts to teachers in order to ensure "better care" for their children.

According to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Education, there are only 1.1 million teachers for China's 26 million kindergarten students, which means, on an average, one teacher is responsible for 24 children.

Over the past four years, the number of births across China has increased by 20 million annually.

"The trend is likely to continue for another three to five years," China Radio International quoted Duan Chengrong, a demographer at Renmin University of China, as having said.

(China Daily September 10, 2010)