{
  "id": 6217383,
  "title": "Chinese teachers made to pose under 'Shame' sign over low exam scores",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/08/chinese-teachers-made-to-pose-under-shame-sign-over-low-exam-scores",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-08T02:10:42.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "VnExpress International",
    "slug": "vnexpress-international",
    "url": "https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/education/chinese-teachers-made-to-pose-under-shame-sign-over-low-exam-scores-5117642.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "On August 26, an education administration meeting in Leibo County, Sichuan, China, featured a controversial display of 20 teachers posing beneath a sign announcing their low exam scores. The screen behind them bore the inscription \"Group photo of Leibo County teachers with junior secondary final exam averages below 15 for the 2025-2026 school year,\" accompanied by the characters for \"shame\" in large letters. A similar caption was used for primary schools, indicating a score of 30. The county's Party committee and government claimed they were investigating the matter, yet the prefecture had previously denied using such disciplinary measures. The county government published an official apology on August 28, acknowledging wrongful conduct that caused psychological harm and damage to public perception. A special team was dispatched to investigate, but no conclusions had been released at the time of publication. The images garnered over 100 million views online and sparked widespread debate about the fairness of evaluating teachers based on students' exam results. The meeting took place during an awards-and-punishment segment, further highlighting the contentious nature of the event. This incident occurred five months after China's Ministry of Education issued a directive prohibiting the ranking of schools by promotion rates or exam scores, as well as the ranking, rewarding, or punishing of teachers based on the same criteria. The CPC Central Committee and State Council had established these guidelines in October 2020, aiming to shift the focus away from grades and entrance exams as the sole measure for evaluating students, teachers, and schools. Leibo County, located in southwestern Sichuan, is designated a national key county for rural revitalization assistance and has a population of approximately 300,000. Around 79 schools, excluding kindergartens, serve 54,651 students and are staffed by 3,217 full-time teachers. Most of Leibo's students are left-behind children, as their parents work in larger cities.",
  "summary": "More than 20 teachers in one of China's poorest counties were made to pose on stage beneath a screen reading \"Shame,\" prompting an apology from the local government.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}