Chinese education authorities back lessons in love for students
- Ministry expresses support for lawmaker’s proposal to promote activities that foster a positive view of family life, saying it is important for ‘social harmony’
- The country is currently facing a demographic crisis with policymakers looking for ways to increase the country’s birth rate
The Chinese Ministry of Education has expressed support for classes to teach students the “correct view of love” and “vast and enthusiastic” activities on campus to promote the correct view of family life.
The ministry made the comments in August in response to a National People Congress deputy’s recommendation that family education should be made a compulsory course in universities and colleges.
It said it would encourage “vast and enthusiastic cultural activities on campus” and guide students in establishing “the correct view of love, marriage and family”, which includes the awareness of the family as “an important basis for national development, national progress, and social harmony”.
The proposal only attracted widespread public attention on Thursday after it featured in a newspaper article, gathering more than 140 million views and 6,500 posts on the social media platform Weibo.
The response online was mixed, with supporters including the high-profile Sichuanese entrepreneur Geng Xiangshun, who told his 4 million followers the classes “should provide positive guidance on sexual health [and] love psychology … rather than be teaching about the skills of being in a marriage”.
