Proposed school makeup times get mixed reaction online

A number of provinces in China, including Sichuan, Guangdong, Shandong and Shaanxi, have published documents stating lost instructional time caused by the delayed semester at primary and secondary schools can be made up by curtailing weekends and summer vacation.

Many provinces and municipalities have delayed the start of the spring semester for schools due to the novel coronavirus outbreak. And schools have offered online courses to students so they can study at home.

From Monday, a cloud platform and a television channel by China Education Television will also provide education resources to primary and secondary school students, according to the Ministry of Education.

The measure to make up the loss of instructional time by having classes six days a week and during part of the summer vacation immediately began trending on micro-blogging platform Sina Weibo and garnered more than 300 million views as of Friday afternoon.

The measure has received a mixed response online.

Many are opposed. Some say it will ruin the summer holiday of both teachers and students and will further increase their burden, some believe it would be unnecessary for primary and secondary school students to have classes during summer vacation as they are already taking online classes at home during this winter vacation, while some are concerned that the hot weather in summer, especially in south China, will take a toll on the physical and mental well-being of school children undergoing growth and development.

The measure also has its supporters. Some say online classes have their limits and are not equivalent to traditional classes, so making up for the loss of instructional time is necessary. Some say they would support the measure if schools cancel current online classes, and some suggest schools offer a less intensive timetable during the summer vacation.