Chinese school in trouble for trying to sell US$363 ‘student monitoring’ Huawei phones to parents
- Education bureau says pitch using tech giant’s name broke ban on sales
- Parents told phone would let them filter content and control pupils’ time online
A high school in southwest China is under investigation after a teacher tried to sell a “custom Huawei phone” for monitoring pupils’ online activity to parents.
On Monday, the Liuzhou Education Bureau said that the sales pitch at Liuzhou High School in Guangxi province broke a ban on advertising and sales in schools.
An unnamed deputy head teacher gave a five-minute PowerPoint presentation about the phone at a parents’ meeting on Saturday, the bureau’s Weibo news feed said.
Parents said the school recommended a customised version of the Huawei Nova 4 smartphone at a cost of 2,499 yuan (US$363).
The school claimed the modified phone had a “student management control” platform which could filter pornographic and violent content, and record “violations” by pupils, Beijing Youth Daily reported.
Parents were told the phone could also limit pupils’ access during lessons and deliver push notifications whenever the school issued an alert.