China’s Well-Known Civil Servant Education Training Institute Apologizes Amid Backlash

Huatu Education, a prominent civil servant examination training institution in China, has sparked heated discussions online after its classroom slogan was revealed to be obscene and suspected of being “against women.”

The slogan, which translates to “If you don’t work hard, your daughter may be caught by her peers; if you work hard, you will catch the women of your peers,” has been widely criticized for its inappropriate and distorted values. Many have taken to social media to express their outrage, with some calling it “oppressive” and “misogynistic.”

The controversy began when a netizen shared a photo of the slogan online, which quickly went viral. The image showed the Huatu Education logo in the lower right corner, further fueling the backlash.

As the news spread, “How could the public examination organization accused of eating women have such bad opinions” became a hot search topic on social media. Many netizens expressed their confusion and disgust at the slogan, with some questioning its meaning and others condemning its values.

One netizen replied to the post, explaining the slogan from a male perspective: “If you register for the class, you can pass the exam and marry a young and beautiful girl. The girl’s parents are the same age as you, with an age difference of more than 20 years. If you don’t register for the class, you can’t pass the exam.”

Others were more critical, with one netizen saying: “We girls have been provoked. Is the purpose of taking the public exam just to catch someone else’s daughter? What kind of values are these? I can’t imagine that this is a propaganda slogan for an organization that sits the public examination.”

In response to the backlash, Huatu Education released a statement apologizing for the negative social impact caused by the slogan. The company claimed that the content was an inappropriate internet joke quoted by one of its female teachers on her teaching PPT and was not a company advertisement.

The statement also announced that the parties involved would be subject to detailed inspections and that the company would strengthen controls in the future to prevent similar problems from arising.

Huatu Education is affiliated with Beijing Huatu Hongyang Education and Culture Development Co., Ltd. and was founded by Dr. Yi Dinghong in 2001. The company’s main business involves the recruitment and training of various talent examinations, including civil servants, teachers, finance, and medical care.