Beijing lets university students go home after campus Covid protest
- Students gather in their hundreds to demand certainty on their final exams and whether they will be allowed to return home
- Campuses have been closed for weeks as part of restrictions aimed at controlling an Omicron outbreak in China’s capital
Beijing Education Commission spokesman Li Yi said on Wednesday that universities were key areas of epidemic control and campuses needed to remain closed, but universities could be flexible and allow students to return to their hometowns.
“Students can return to their homes and hometowns in a safe and orderly manner…Students need to be guided with good protection and return directly to their families in closed-loop management,” Li said.
The decision came after students at Beijing Normal University gathered on campus in protest over uncertainty stemming from the pandemic restrictions.
Video footage circulating on social media showed students assembled outside a stadium, before moving their protest to a central square on campus.
According to posts on social media platforms such as Weibo, the students were demanding to know when and how their final exams would take place, and whether they would be allowed to leave campus and return home.