Chinese officials canceled a plan to keep single-parent teachers from losing their jobs after it resulted in dozens of divorces.

The education board in Dandong, in northeastern Liaoning province, planned to cut teachers in primary and middle schools.

This prompted 41 teachers at one school to file for divorce last week.

The Shanghai Daily reported that "In comparison, their town divorced a total of 34 couples in the whole of 2005."

Officials suspended the plan and convinced 39 of the 41 newly divorced teachers to re-marry their spouses.

Chinese workers have engaged in mass divorces before, in an effort to save their jobs.

Last year, dozens of laid-off oilfield workers filed for divorce after the company said it would permit divorced employees to retain their jobs.