Overseas journalists visit Shanghai schools

Overseas journalists invited to visit two schools in Shanghai last week described students as "taking the health crisis in their stride" and "undaunted" after classes resumed following more than two months of online study at home.

Forty-nine journalists from eight countries and regions－including Japan, France, the United States, the United Kingdom and Singapore－toured two middle schools on Thursday, the day after students in the third-year of junior high and the second-year of senior high returned to school. Their reports highlighted China's gradual return to school as some educational institutions in other countries hit by the novel coronavirus pneumonia pandemic weigh their own positions.

Students' mental well-being after staying at home since January was a focus of their interviews.

Shanghai High School principal Feng Zhigang told Agence France-Presse that resuming classes was the responsible thing to do, not only for the teenagers' studies, but also for their physical and mental health.

"(At home) there is a lack of social activities, so long-term online lessons more or less will bring some problems," he said.

The school told the journalists it had emphasized social responsibility in its online classes and encouraged students to embrace changes and adopt a positive mood for study.

Shanghai High School alumnus Hu Weiguo, the head of a Shanghai medical team sent to support Wuhan, the Chinese city hit hardest by the pandemic, gave a speech about the team's experience that students watched online. It motivated them to be hardworking and contribute to society, the school said.

A story by Reuters said students were "thrilled" to return to class after the monthslong lockdown despite having to wear face masks, compulsory temperature checks, strict hygiene procedures, the installation of glass shields on dining tables and constant reminders to keep 1 meter apart.

Zhang Jiayi, a 17-year-old Shanghai High School student, told Reuters they usually looked forward to the holidays, but the holidays had become too long.

"This time, we longed to return to school, where we can see friends and teachers," Zhang said.

Principal Feng told Reuters the school had a psychological guidance team to assist students during the isolation of online classes, but that could never be a substitute for being reunited with friends and teachers in person.

Some students said they were not daunted and had become used to pandemic prevention measures, which had become the new normal in public spaces in Shanghai.

The city's information office said it had helped overseas journalists conduct a number of interviews since January, organizing earlier media tours focusing on the supply of pandemic prevention materials, novel coronavirus pneumonia treatment, the resumption of work and production, and the "cloud lifestyle" and cloud economy. Journalists from 129 overseas media outlets have joined the tours.

Since early February, Shanghai's municipal government has been updating its daily press briefing on the pandemic in English, French, Japanese and Korean on the website of its Foreign Affairs Office.