Chinese universities accused of overstepping the mark with restrictions on students’ off-campus holiday travel
- In one recent example, Lanzhou Jiaotong University ‘does not allow students to organise road trips, group tours or bicycle trips on their own’
- Controversy follows earlier online debate over rules governing ‘bed curtains’ for privacy in shared rooms and smoking and alcohol on campus
Controversy and accusations of excessive control have arisen in China after some universities and colleges banned their students from travelling on their own during the May Day holiday for “safety” reasons.
Local media is reporting that a handful of schools in the country have told students in the past week that group travel in the name of “classes or departments” is forbidden. Some also opposed students taking self-initiated group trips by car or group tour during the five-day break.
The news quickly sparked internet discussion, prompting commentaries questioning whether it was appropriate to regulate self-organised travel by students who are adults.
Notices issued by Lanzhou Jiaotong University and the School of Foreign Studies at Jiangsu Normal University were among the strictest, according to local online media ThePaper.cn, citing statements made last week.
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A statement on the “management of students’ safety” from the university in Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province in northwestern China, said “the school does not allow students to organise road trips, group tours or bicycle trips on their own”.