Online study becomes norm in Shanghai

Classes at school ruled out for city's primary and secondary students

Shanghai resident Ge Yuan has taken her young daughter, a first grader, to work this week, where she sat at a nearby desk and used an iPad to take online courses.

With COVID-19 outbreaks now affecting 28 provincial-level regions, many places have moved courses for primary and secondary school students online and strictly limited the movement of personnel and goods on university campuses to ensure the safety of students and teachers.

Wang Dengfeng, director of the Ministry of Education's department of physical, health and arts education, said more than 10 provincial-level regions have reported COVID-19 cases at educational institutions.

The ministry will make sure all COVID-19 prevention and control measures are strictly implemented, he said, and that contingency plans are implemented rapidly when outbreaks occur.

Shanghai's education authority said on Friday that all primary and secondary school students would start online courses the next day.

As Ge and her husband both have to work and there are no relatives available to take care of her daughter, she has to take her to work.

"My colleagues are very understanding and supportive, and she finds online courses very novel and interesting since it is the first time she has taken such courses," Ge said.

For each 40-minute course, her daughter watches a prerecorded lesson for more than 10 minutes and then has live interactions with teachers, she said.

"I support the decision to hold online courses as no parent wants their child to be infected with COVID-19 at school," she said. "My only concern is her eyesight might worsen from staring at the screen for too long."

Shanghai middle school student Liu Yanming started to take online courses at home on Monday, accompanied by his father, a university teacher who also takes part in virtual classes.

Liu said he is no stranger to online courses as he spent the entire spring semester studying online in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The teachers are also very familiar with how to conduct courses online and the courses have been running smoothly, he said, adding he can also get up a bit later and does not need to wear a school uniform.

His mother, Xie Feng, said online courses are the "lesser of two evils". While in-person teaching can be dangerous at the moment, she said that in the absence of teachers' supervision she has caught her son playing games and browsing the internet while taking online courses.

Students at many Shanghai universities, who are not allowed to leave their campuses due to COVID-19 containment measures, have resorted to music to spice up their life in quarantine.

According to a video posted by Shanghai University on Monday, two postgraduate students played the patriotic tune My Homeland on a violin and viola on a school dormitory balcony to support the university's containment efforts.

A mini-concert by students on a dormitory balcony also took place at Shanghai Jiao Tong University on Sunday night.

Jilin University in Northeast China's Jilin province, the hardest-hit region in the current outbreak, started online courses for all students on March 9. The university has sealed off its campus, with only essential epidemic containment workers allowed to enter.

The university has offered free meals to students and made sure students and teachers have sufficient supplies of daily necessities, according to a WeChat post by the university.

Students posted pictures and videos of meals provided by the university on social media platforms, praising its thoughtfulness and care. The hashtag "Dear students, we will make sure you have enough food" became a trending topic on the Sina Weibo microblog platform, being viewed more than 110 million times.