A total of 242 million students in China from kindergarten children to college students have returned to school as of Friday, accounting for 90 percent of China’s total students, showing that China’s education system has withstood a major test of history amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Ministry of Education.
It also marked the beginning of a safe, normal and full fall semester, Xu Mei, spokesperson of the ministry, said at Tuesday’s press conference. In addition, the last batch of students will resume school after the National Day holiday in early October, Xu said.
In the next step, we will consolidate the hard-won achievements and continue to do a good job in education and teaching amid regular COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control measures, Xu said.
Chinese students have been flocking back to campuses in different batches, with control measures such as partial campus seal-offs, carrying out large lectures online and reducing group activities. Beijing universities requested that freshmen report their health situation 14 days ahead of classes, submit negative nucleic acid test results, and obtain a green code to enter the campus.
In comparison with Chinese schools, which welcomed the return of students eight months after the COVID-19 pandemic first hit China, universities in the US have gone back to online courses and canceled their tests, after an increasing number of confirmed cases involving students were reported since schools reopened in mid-August.
