Educated by cesarean(2)

Fear of falling behind

The average rate of cesarean sections in China is 46 percent, making the country the world leader, which is three times the WHO standard, recent statistics from the National Health and Family Planning Commission show, the Xinhua News Agency reported on August 23.

A mother surnamed Yu in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, explained why she received a cesarean section when her fetus was 37 weeks old at a local hospital in late August in 2011. "I can't let my baby lose at the starting line of his life. If he is older than his classmates, he will feel ashamed. For a female baby, she should go to primary school earlier for her future employment and marriage," Yu told the Chengdu-based Tianfu Morning Post, adding that an extra year of raising a child would mean another 20,000 yuan ($3,268) in living costs.

"The early cesarean section is not a medical issue but a social issue," Li said. "Young parents face more pressure from modern, fast paced society."

Changing minds

Gu Chao (pseudonym), a soon-to-be father, in Yancheng, Jiangsu Province, told the Global Times that at first, he and his wife had decided to receive a cesarean section on August 31, nine days in advance of their due date so their child could get into school earlier, but later changed their minds.

"Considering the safety of my wife and the child, we chose to follow the law of nature," Gu said. "After all, the baby is safe in his mother's body. No one knows what changes to education policies will take place in six years."

Xia Xueluan, a sociologist with Peking University, told the Global Times that authorities should implement a flexible schooling age to avoid encouraging parents to have cesarean sections. He suggested for example, saying that the child's birth date could be counted from August 30 to September 1.

The Anhui Provincial Education Department attempted this. It issued a regulation in the first half of this year, allowing children of less than six years old to go to primary school, but these children should be born before December 31, the People's Daily reported in May.

Schooling at an older age is often regarded as a gift from parents to their children in Australia and the US, especially for boys whose language abilities are often poorer than girls, said Sun Yunxiao, a deputy director of the China Youth and Children Research Center.

"Early cesarean sections are stupid and cruel and it's irresponsible toward the children. In many primary schools, the studying abilities of boys have fallen behind those of girls of the same age," he said.