What’s new: Shanghai colleges have joined a growing number of schools across China allowing students to return home ahead of winter break, as higher education institutions try to ease the management burden of potential Covid-19 outbreaks.
At Shanghai University, students who want to leave early can apply to study from home for the remainder of the term, while those who choose to stay on campus will have to take regular Covid tests every 48 hours, according to a statement posted on the school’s website on Saturday.
Screenshots of similar announcements from other colleges in the city circulated on social media.
Shanghai’s railway department has set up a specialized ticketing channel for students and will assign their seats in concentrated areas, as it expects a rush of students returning in the week through Dec. 16, according to one university’s announcement.
What’s more: Beginning late November, colleges and universities in major cities including Beijing, Guangzhou, Changsha, Chengdu, and Xi’an issued notices telling students they could leave school early and study from home. Most schools are choosing to hold classes in an online format.
Some schools in Wuhan and Hangzhou adjusted the time of final exams and moved up the start date of their winter vacation from mid-January to the end of December or early January. Winter break normally begins before the Lunar New Year holiday, which next year begins on Jan. 22.
Tsinghua University in China’s capital announced late November it would move up a timetable for a program that provides students with a free bus trip to a train station or airport so they can return home for winter break. Thousands of students have signed up.
In March, a university in northeastern province of Jilin reported a cluster of infections and thousands of students were transferred off campus. The school’s party secretary and the mayor of the city of Jilin were dismissed after the outbreak.
Contact reporter Kelly Wang (jingzhewang@caixin.com) and editor Jonathan Breen (jonathanbreen@caixin.com)
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