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Students from Taiyuan University of Technology board a bus to return to campus in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, on Friday. Photo: Xinhua

China orders university students to stay on campus to halt coronavirus spread

  • Directive part of a raft of new rules in store for colleges as classes gradually resume
  • But changes do not apply to staff, according to health and education authorities

China has banned university students heading back to campus from leaving school grounds as classes gradually resume throughout the country.

In a joint directive issued to universities on Tuesday, the Ministry of Education and the National Health Commission said all returning students must stay on campus at all times to help contain the spread of the coronavirus.

The directive does not apply to university staff.

Schools throughout China have been closed since January but some students – mostly high school pupils graduating this spring – have been allowed to resume classes this month as coronavirus cases have appeared to wane.

Mainland China reported 1,100 active coronavirus cases by Monday, most of which were imported, according to official data.

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Some parts of the country, including Qinghai and Xinjiang, have asked universities to reopen. In Jiangsu province in the country’s east, various universities have allowed students to make their own decision about whether to return to campus.

If they do, the students will be largely confined to campus under the new rules.

“If a student must leave campus, he should strictly abide by leave procedures and plan his travel route and means of transport in advance,” the directive said.

Large gatherings would be banned and replaced with online meetings, it said.

Dormitory beds would be rearranged to reduce density and students would be encouraged to have meals in off-peak hours.

Other measures include allowing only one person per table in cafeterias and ensuring all dining seats are at least 1.5 metres (5 feet) apart.

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But some students said they would rather stay at home.

“So the students are confined to campus, while the faculty and staff go in and out every day? What’s the point?” Rick Li, a second-year student at Shanghai’s Tongji University, said.

“Many students also live off-campus. What about them?”

Hu Zhetao, who lives in the eastern province of Zhejiang but is a first-year student at Sichuan University in western China, said it would be pointless to return to university for this semester if classes did not restart soon.

“There’s no date for reopening so far. So if we wait until May, then it will soon be the exam season, when there’s usually not many classes anyway,” he said.

“Why would we study by ourselves in dormitories if we can also do it at home?

“I would be flying 1,800km (1,100 miles) to take some exams and then flying back.”

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This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: students ordered to stay on campus – but staff exempt
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