oppressive schooling · Full chronicle and history

A PPT from the Southeast University Medical School circulating online shows that out of 236 freshmen enrolled, only 133 remain, a dropout rate of 43.6%. In Medical Imaging, 6 out of 21 remain, and in the 5+3 integrated clinical program, 39 out of 86 students transferred out. Some students claim that in their freshman year, the class size dropped from over 30 to 14.

Procurement documents for AI classroom patrol systems at Anhui Vocational College of Commerce and Trade and Zhengzhou Normal University in 2025 have recently sparked concern: the systems monitor student attendance rates, head-up rates, and desk-leaning rates, analyze the political leanings and sensitive words in teachers' classroom speech, and automatically trigger screenshots for evidence collection and inclusion in priority monitoring lists when thresholds are met.

On November 10, netizens filmed that Lezhi County Senior Vocational High School in Ziyang City, Sichuan Province, allegedly installed a row of razor wire on the second floor of its teaching building to prevent students from climbing over the railings. The video has sparked sarcasm and ridicule from netizens.

On November 9, 2026, a Douyin user posted a page of school rules, in which "jumping off a building" is explicitly stated to result in "expulsion from the school registry," sparking heated discussion among netizens. Some mocked, "I've already jumped off the building, why would I be afraid of you expelling me?"

Recently, a set of screenshots of netizen comments has been circulating on social media. Netizens use 'music student' to refer to depressed students, 'playing the violin' to refer to self-harm, and 'singing bel canto' to refer to crying. A netizen from Hebei claimed that almost the entire high school class were 'music students,' and when a classmate self-harmed, they once thought, 'one less competitor.' Another netizen mentioned that even when hospitals identified issues, the school would not grant leave, and a netizen from Jiangsu mentioned a 'series of over a dozen jumps.'

Nanjing University has been exposed for spending over 31 million yuan to install surveillance equipment in 103 classrooms. Officials claim the move aims to increase student engagement, sparking public criticism over the waste of public funds and the oversight of public power.

Recently, Yongxin Middle School in Jiangxi Province forced students to participate in a track meet while running in the rain, refusing any requests for leave, while school leaders stood by under shelter. After a student posted a video of the scene on Douyin, they were warned and ordered to delete the post.

On the morning of November 7, high school students at Chaoyang Experimental School in Shantou, Guangdong, were required to go to the playground and stand together to study as soon as the sky brightened, sparking mockery from netizens regarding the school's prison-like management.

Recently, Jiangyan No. 2 High School in Jiangsu adjusted its schedule to 7:20–21:20 and implemented a two-day weekend. However, students are still required to return to school for evening self-study at 18:00 on Sundays. The relevant adjustments were not posted in the school-home WeChat groups but were only communicated orally by teachers, with netizens claiming it was due to pressure from above.

On November 5, The Paper reported that universities including Jiangnan University, Heilongjiang University, Wenzhou University, and Northeast Forestry University have introduced AI classroom patrol systems to monitor attendance rates and student engagement (head-up rates). Jiangnan University's system covers 462 classrooms, has analyzed over 120,000 class hours, and automatically sends alerts for abnormal classroom situations, while Southern Medical University uses AI to grade classes.

Two individuals, the account owner and the video producer who previously exposed management issues at the old campus of Liaocheng No. 3 Middle School in Shandong on Douyin, were taken away by police for questioning on November 5 and ordered to stop posting any content related to the school. Previously, students had complained about excessive time spent at school and insufficient rest time.

A netizen reported that day students at Liaocheng No. 3 High School in Shandong are dismissed at 10:30 PM, while boarding students in the second semester of their second year of high school cannot return to their dorms until 11:10 PM, and even after lying down, slogans are broadcast in the dorms via loudspeaker.

Students from the old campus of Liaocheng No. 3 High School in Shandong reported that the school requires students to arrive at 6:45 AM and leave at 10:30 PM. Freshmen and sophomores get a break once every two weeks, while seniors get a break once every three weeks. Students have fainted and been taken to the hospital by ambulance, and many suffer from mental health issues. The school administration ignores these problems, the municipal education bureau covers for them, and students' exposure posts on Douyin have been maliciously reported multiple times.

Recently, the schedule for Jinghua High School in Suining County, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, showed that students begin morning reading at 7 AM and finish their studies at 9:30 PM, with only a 40-minute lunch break and a 45-minute afternoon practice session scheduled after lunch.

On November 2, Funing Secondary Vocational School in Yancheng, Jiangsu, forced students to line up and run on the playground at 5:47 AM, despite dense fog and extremely low visibility. Netizens exposed the incident via video, sparking mockery.

On November 1, a netizen posted a video criticizing the strict management of a 'Hengshui-style' high school in Hebei, including the confiscation of books, bans on speaking during breaks, and hairstyle regulations, calling it a 'test of obedience.' The video resonated with many netizens, but the comment section was subsequently wiped.

Recently, students at Dongguan No. 5 High School spontaneously formed a 'Long-Haired Men's Club.' On the day of its founding, over 100 students attended the gathering, most out of curiosity. After the gathering, the initiating students were punished by the school, and comments on related content have become invisible.

Recently, a netizen posted a video on Douyin of students at Hebei Dingzhou High School running in formation. Under dim streetlights, dozens of students were running in dense lines. Netizens mocked it as a prison labor camp, questioning whether the lack of sleep would affect their studies.

On October 30, a netizen posted a video claiming that a calculus teacher at Lanzhou Jiaotong University, upon seeing a student using a mobile phone during class, walked off the podium and called the student's parent on the spot, hoping for parental assistance in discipline, which sparked heated discussion among netizens.

On the evening of October 29, Longchuan County Experimental Middle School in Heyuan, Guangdong, experienced a water and power outage due to equipment failure. As the school refused to let students leave, a large number of students gathered and climbed over the walls to leave the campus.

Around October 29, a video on Douyin showed a child sitting at a desk with tears in their eyes while laughing uncontrollably. The parent captioned it saying they dared not tutor the child anymore, and netizens left comments expressing sympathy for the child.

Beijing Sanfan Middle School issued an internal notice on October 27 stating that a student from Class 8, Grade 3 ate a steamed bun during the mid-term Chinese mock exam on October 26, which seriously violated exam regulations. Following a grade-level review, it was decided to issue a disciplinary notice of criticism.

Recently, a college student posted on Xiaohongshu saying that the windproof cover on her electric bike parked at the school gate was stolen. After she reported it to the police, she was scolded by her academic advisor. She apologized repeatedly and said the matter had been resolved, but was still accused of "going her own way even when police handling is involved."

On October 26, a notice board was set up at the gate of Jinghang Senior High School in Cangzhou, Hebei, stating that no public phone is provided to prevent students from illegally bringing mobile phones, cigarettes and alcohol, engaging in early romantic relationships, and sneaking out of school, while also restricting parents from delivering supplies and banning the handover of snacks and drinks; netizens sarcastically commented that the treatment is worse than in prison.

On October 24, netizens captured footage of parents at Shandong Experimental Middle School delivering food to students inside the school through an iron fence. Students ate inside the fence while parents kept them company outside it, and what appeared to be electric fence equipment was installed above the fence. The video sparked heated discussion among netizens.

Recently, a student at a university in Hebei asked for leave from a counselor because of his niece's birth. After being refused, he was still lectured with words like “don’t have such thoughts” and “studies come first,” and was asked in return whether his high school homeroom teacher would have approved the leave. The chat records were submitted and exposed.

On October 23, a student at the Experimental Campus of Zaozhuang No. 16 Middle School in Shandong Province reported that the school requires Grade 11 students to come to school on Saturdays for "independent study." In reality, it is mostly teachers of core subjects like Chinese, Mathematics, and English giving lectures. Students who do not attend may face criticism, and homeroom teachers will pressure students, making it difficult to choose freely.

On October 23, a netizen posted to expose that a university dormitory in Lanzhou, Gansu supplies electricity in four time slots per day, totaling 16.25 hours of power cuts, with a unified dormitory check at 21:30 pm prohibiting late returns; the class circulated a notice about students leaving evening self-study early, and warned that violators would not be considered for Party or Communist Youth League membership recommendations for the time being, and their grants would be reduced or even canceled.

On October 23, a netizen posted that the class committee of Changchun Humanities College notified students to arrive at the classroom at 6:45 for morning self-study, during which attendance would be taken and phones collected; bringing breakfast, placing water bottles on desks, sleeping, and chatting were strictly prohibited. The author said that not participating would result in deducted academic credits.

On October 23, a teacher surnamed Gao at Zhuangyuanqiao Middle School in Xihua County, Zhoukou, Henan, said the school's security checks have entered a "double insurance" mode, with two additional security screening devices installed to strictly inspect students for prohibited items, prompting netizens to sarcastically remark that students are being treated like prisoners.

On October 22, the Central University of Finance and Economics announced the winning bid for teaching equipment procurement, totaling 2.99 million yuan. The tender documents require AI classroom analysis functions to automatically count the number of students looking up, looking down, playing with mobile phones, or sleeping on their desks, and to generate classroom engagement analysis reports. The equipment includes 48-megapixel AI cameras and microphone arrays.

On October 22, Wuhan Meijia Foreign Language School held a campus event. Most students wore blank expressions while clapping, and teachers kept urging them to “smile.” After the video surfaced, netizens hotly debated the students' repressed and haggard mental state.

On October 22, a dormitory inspection was carried out at the Xinjin campus of Chengdu New Oriental Senior Technical School in Sichuan. An auxiliary police officer entered the dormitory to check students' belongings, take photos, and verify ID cards. A school official, "Principal Xue," said the operation was aimed at screening out "lawbreakers." After footage of the inspection was exposed, it was questioned by a number of netizens.

On October 22, a netizen posted a video showing the 6th Primary School Young Teachers Chinese Teaching Demonstration and Observation Event held at the gymnasium in Zhongwei City, Ningxia. Primary school students sat neatly in the center of the venue for the observing teachers to watch. Comments in the bullet screen criticized the rampant formalism, with one teacher saying they had not held regular classes for nearly a month in order to put on a public lesson.

On October 21, a Douyin blogger posted a situational short skit recreating a day in the life of high school students in the four Shanhe provinces: awakened by the broadcast at 5 a.m., taking oaths and shouting slogans, holding books for morning reading, and after self-study ended at 10:30 p.m., still having to undergo dormitory checks by the homeroom teacher, sparking heated discussion among netizens.

On October 15, a netizen posted to expose that Nanjing Audit University had launched a “Dormitory Anomaly Analysis” feature in its student affairs system, matching dormitory and campus gate turnstile data with class schedules to automatically record class absences and anomalies; in serious cases, students are disciplined according to the student handbook. Students posted to question this and reported that the “Direct Feedback Box” in WeChat Work could not be opened.

On October 14, a university teacher posted on a social platform, saying that what he teaches students is knowledge that is years behind, mocking himself as "a product of the previous industrial revolution teaching knowledge from the era of industrial Cthulhu," and feeling powerless for his students. The post received 857,000 likes and 157,000 reposts.

On October 13, a parent posted a video on Douyin: a boy in a school uniform sits in the back seat of a car, dozing off with his eyes closed while holding chopsticks, his head drooping toward his lunchbox. The parent said the child is often so sleepy that he has to rush to school without eating breakfast. Commenters said that most high school students in China are not even let out of school by 9 p.m.

On October 12, a netizen posted a video claiming that New Times Elite School in Sanmenxia, Henan Province, requires students to make no sound while eating in the canteen. A large number of students ate quietly while management personnel patrolled and supervised the aisles. The video sparked heated discussion among netizens.

On October 11, according to domestic media reports, a member of the parent committee at Siji School in Jinwan District, Zhuhai, proposed in a group chat that parents take turns going to the school to supervise students' midday rest, claiming the move was intended to allow teachers to rest better.

During the National Day holiday, some schools in Shandong assigned physical education check-in tasks through apps such as "Tiantian Tiaosheng" (Jump Rope Every Day). Videos of students jumping rope at scenic spots in various places and uploading the footage flooded the internet, and similar situations occurred in Zhejiang as well. The Shandong Provincial Department of Education responded that the check-ins are not a unified mandatory task of the provincial department, but are implemented independently by each school.

On October 10, 2026, a netizen submitted a report claiming that a student at Huabing Middle School in Urumqi was given a major demerit by the school for eating instant noodles, drawing attention.

In the comment section of a post about a student at Huabing Middle School being given a major demerit for eating instant noodles, netizens revealed that students at a middle school in the Altay Prefecture had also been given demerits for eating instant noodles.

On October 10, a mother posted a video of her first-grade daughter on Douyin, saying that her daughter wakes up at 6:40 every day, does homework until 9:30, and doesn't go to sleep until 10:30, with no light left in her eyes. She said she was powerless to help. Netizens commented that it looked like working the night shift and getting used to assembly-line life in advance.

During the National Day holiday, Chinese parents and students took to social media to complain that students had too much homework. Some students broke down frantically rushing to finish assignments in the early hours of the morning, questioning the point of having a holiday.

A leaked schedule for Grade 10 extended evening self-study duty shows that parents are required to enter the classroom from 19:40 to 21:00 to maintain order, must not use electronic devices, need to record students' arrivals and departures as well as rule violations, and the parents on duty must be the students' fathers or mothers.

On October 7, the National Day holiday ended and the new term began. A boarding middle school in Lincang, Yunnan arranged for teachers to go through students' belongings one by one at the school gate as they returned. Students could only carry transparent schoolbags, and items such as snacks were banned. One teacher on duty said she could not bear to search the bags and felt pained inside.

On October 5, a senior student at the Shanwei School of South China Normal University High School posted online, saying that the school's National Day holiday ran only from the afternoon of October 4 to the evening of October 6, and that a parents' meeting was held before students left campus on the afternoon of October 4, at which a PPT instructed parents not to agree to leave requests, and three students who had asked for leave to go out and eat were named.

On October 1, a netizen posted their 33 National Day holiday exam papers on Douyin. In the comments section, students from various regions shared their own workloads, with some needing to complete 108, 121, or even as many as 168 exam papers.

On October 1, local media reported on the incident of Leiyang No. 1 Middle School forcibly shaving students' heads and charging fees.

On September 30, sophomores at Wuyuan No. 1 Middle School in Inner Mongolia launched a collective protest against illegal supplementary classes during the National Day holiday and signed a joint petition demanding that the school stop shortening the holiday.

On September 30, multiple netizens posted that while the Experimental School of Hengshui Middle School in Hebei was holding a sports meet, students were required to carry a "toilet pass" when using the restroom. The pass required the name, class, gender, and the exact time of restroom use down to the minute, and had to be signed and approved by the class monitor and the homeroom teacher. Each pass was limited to one person for a single use and had to be returned to the Education Office afterward. Some netizens said such strict controls were not the first time at local schools.

On September 30, a middle school student in Handan posted a long essay accusing school leaders of being keen on superficial projects, with thousands of students forced to accompany leaders in a “drill,” grades treated as achievements, holidays exploited, and free will suppressed.

On September 30, netizens exposed that Xingning No. 1 High School in Meizhou, Guangdong arranged intensive return-to-school self-study and exams during the National Day holiday, nominally two days off but actually amounting to only one day, and also exposed an internal recording of the school issuing a threatening ultimatum to students via broadcast.

On September 30, a Douyin blogger posted a video criticizing schools for oppressing students with fake two-day weekends and a score-first mentality, saying that children study with the posture of slaves. The video received more than 470,000 likes and over 20,000 comments, and many people in the comments section wished to fall sick in order to ask for leave.

On September 29, the Beijing Institute of Technology announced that faculty member Pei Yi had seriously violated professional conduct standards for teachers, revoking his qualification as a graduate supervisor and terminating his employment. Pei Yi had previously sparked controversy over remarks made in class discussing feminism and noting that all members of the Politburo Standing Committee are male.

On September 27, the WeChat public account “Wang Jiu’s Notebook” published news that Yantai Sino-English School in Shandong issued 94 exam papers for a 10-day Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday; on September 29, it received a letter demanding post deletion from the school bearing an official seal.

On September 28, at Leiyang No. 1 Middle School in Hunan Province, the first-year senior high grade lured students into classrooms, locked the doors, and collectively forced haircuts and imposed charges on the grounds that their hairstyles were non-compliant, triggering panic; some students climbed over the wall to escape.

Fujian Changle First Middle School arranged supplementary classes during the statutory Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, giving only 1 day off for the Mid-Autumn Festival and only 2 days off for National Day.

Recently, netizen "Tony's Diary" published a short video revealing how some unscrupulous teachers treat students as "hostages" with differential treatment. Parents, fearing their children will be targeted, dare not complain, and must also shoulder extra tutoring tasks while teachers rely on putting pressure on students to achieve results and secure promotions. The video sparked widespread discussion among netizens, with a parent in Heilongjiang stating they had given a teacher a 1,000 yuan cash envelope, and a Guangdong parent saying their child was targeted but they dared not speak up.

On September 26, Zhongda Hospital Affiliated to Southeast University in Nanjing, Jiangsu, set up a dedicated "children's infusion study area" equipped with desks and chairs in the pediatric infusion zone, drawing public attention.

On September 26, a Hubei netizen posted that freshmen at a certain university (suspected to be Wuchang University of Technology) were not given a Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, but were instead gathered to attend a gratitude education-themed class meeting, where calculation tables showing 'how much you owe your parents for growing up' were displayed on site.

On September 26, a high school senior in Guangdong posted on Xiaohongshu saying that the Mid-Autumn and National Day holidays are only two days each and that make-up classes are still required, describing hair loss and menstrual irregularities, and saying classmates look like “the living dead.” A teacher in Hunan replied in the comments saying that students are collapsing all over the classroom and that the make-up classes are only meant to comfort school leaders and parents.

On September 25, during a physics teacher's demonstration of electromagnetic induction at Jilin Changchun City Wenli High School, a student said 'so awesome' twice, and was kicked by the teacher and had the desk flipped.

A netizen shared a video of two elderly people fighting over cardboard boxes, sparking sighs in the comments section about social involution. Some netizens pointed out that given the involution and food safety issues in China, many people might not even live long enough to reach the age of fighting over cardboard boxes.

On September 24, it was reported online that family members of a student held banners to demand rights outside the gate of Yangxi County No. 1 Middle School in Yangjiang, Guangdong. The incident stemmed from a student suspected of suffering from depression who jumped to their death on campus. The family accused the school of forcing the child, who was resting at home, to return to school by threatening to record their absence as truancy in their permanent file. There are reports that the teacher involved may have attempted suicide by swallowing pills; the incident is awaiting official notification.

Ministry of Education spokesperson and Vice Minister Wang Guangyan announced that China has built the world's largest and highest-quality education system, with 270 million people having received higher education.

On September 23, an instructor at the Vocational Education Center in Wuqiang County, Hengshui, Hebei used an electric baton to punish students, and several students were burned by electric shocks. The homeroom teacher said they were aware of the incident but did not know the details. The school evaded questions about the origin of the electric baton and whether the instructor involved was still on campus, saying that the police had already intervened.

Parents in multiple regions across the country report that schools are enforcing strict campus behavioral codes, including requiring students to walk in straight lines and make right-angle turns, as well as facing criticism or point deductions for observing nature during breaks or having poor sitting postures.

Students at Zhongshan Memorial Middle School in Guangdong chanted in residential buildings to protest after the school broke its holiday promise by cutting the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday down to just one day.

Hunan University of Science and Technology has set up on-campus stations to compulsorily require incoming freshmen to get crew cuts, sparking strong public criticism and sarcasm regarding campus management practices.

On September 20, Hebei Software Institute of Technology conducted high-intensity obedience training during military training, requiring students to crawl on their knees through obstacles on a large scale, with colored smoke released at the scene, triggering criticism from netizens over enslavement-style education.

During military training at Hebei Software Institute, a large number of students were seen kneeling and crawling through colored smoke, sparking mockery from netizens.

On September 17, a student in Shaanxi wearing a school uniform was seen reciting chemistry experimental procedures in a mechanical, expressionless manner while exiting an elevator. The parent posted the video with the caption, 'The gap between children is widened invisibly,' sparking widespread discussion and criticism among netizens regarding high-pressure educational models and students' mental states.

On September 17, students at Hainan Commercial School reported extreme military training intensity, including 6 laps of frog jumps, 500 squats, and long-distance running daily, which continued even in the rain. Multiple students suffered leg injuries and were unable to walk after training, and some students chose to drop out as a result.

A high school student posted a tearful complaint about the school's extremely compressed holiday schedule, stating that students are released at 3:20 PM on Saturday and must return by 3:00 PM on Sunday. After accounting for sleep and homework, students have almost no personal time.

On September 16, during military training at Hubei Enshi University, instructors required multiple students to brave heavy rain and enter muddy pits to conduct simulated military mud combat and wrestling confrontation, triggering widespread public skepticism about the necessity of military training and student health and safety.

In April 2026, a physician at Southern Medical University Pearl River Hospital posted a notice in a work group chat, requiring students not to take temporary leave unless there is a death in the family. The chat record was exposed in July and trended on hot searches, sparking widespread public discussion about the high‑pressure management of the medical education system and students' rights.

A parent posted a video showing instructors at Guangzhou Donghua Vocational College forcing students to undergo military training in a rainstorm.

On September 16, during Jilin University's 80th anniversary celebrations, first-year students were locked inside the central stadium for training, and the gates were closed prohibiting students from leaving to eat, causing them to be exposed to high temperatures, with some students feeling unwell. Students questioned that the school's action was to prevent freshmen from colliding with leaders or alumni vehicles.

On September 16, a netizen revealed that Changchun Pharmaceutical Vocational College suddenly implemented strict campus lockdown management. Students requesting leave must have their parents send a WeChat message, print a paper leave slip, and obtain the counselor's signature for approval. Rumors circulated that the lockdown is intended to force students to stay on campus and spend money. The school has not responded.

On September 14, it was reported that instructors at Guangzhou Donghua Vocational College forced students to undergo military training in heavy rain. Multiple students confirmed this in the comments section and advised the uploader to delete the video to avoid trouble from the instructors.

On September 15, a medical student in an eight-year bachelor-master-doctorate joint program at Southern Medical University fell to death on campus. Online rumors indicated that both of the student's parents were critically ill in the ICU, the leave request was approved for only three days, and the student faced heavy academic, research, and work pressures. After the incident, students laid flowers at the scene to mourn.

[Follow-up · September 15, 2026] On September 15, a 2020-cohort eight-year clinical medicine student at Southern Medical University fell to death. At the time of the incident, the Tencent Video show "The King of Land. Offer 8" was being recorded on campus, triggering public concern and discussion over the high-pressure training model and professional competition pressures faced by medical students.

[Follow-up · September 15, 2026] On the morning of September 15, numerous netizens left comments in the review section of Southern Medical University's admissions office social media account, demanding that the school authorities respond to recent controversial incidents.

[Follow-up · September 15, 2026] On September 15, a student suicide by falling occurred at Southern Medical University. On September 16, students on campus published posts mourning the deceased classmate.

[Follow-up · September 15, 2026] On September 15, an official WeChat account published an article mourning the deceased and calling for the establishment of a student burden-reduction mechanism, arguing that advisor authority should have boundaries and students are not cheap labor. The article attracted attention and was subsequently taken down after publication; the author later republished the original text.

[Follow-up · September 16, 2026] On September 16, Southern Medical University released an announcement confirming the student's fall on campus and ruling out homicide. The school stated it would strengthen student mental health work, which triggered netizens' questioning of faculty ethics issues.

[Follow-up · September 16, 2026] On September 16, Wang, the advisor of the student who fell to death at Southern Medical University, responded that the online rumors were untrue. Regarding key issues such as the student's parents' car accident and the duration of the leave, Wang refused to respond on the grounds of school regulations and hung up the phone when pressed about the number of leave days.

[Follow-up · September 16, 2026] On September 16, Southern Daily reported that the family members of the student who fell to death at Southern Medical University denied that the advisor coerced the student, and displayed transfer records from the advisor. On the same day, China News Weekly called the advisor regarding the online rumor of "only three days of leave granted," but the advisor did not respond and hung up the phone.

[Follow-up · September 17, 2026] On September 17, a fellow lab-mate of the student who fell to death at Southern Medical University publicly spoke out for the school's advisor, Teacher Wang, stating that she suffered cyberbullying and attempting to defend her.

On September 11, 2026, a high school student uploaded a video on a social platform showing the school’s teaching building stairwell sealed off by dense fences. The video quickly spread among students, and students from other schools also began sharing similar footage. Netizens commented that the teaching building resembled a prison, leading to heated discussion. So far, no school or education authority has responded.

On September 12, 2026, Hebi Foreign Language Middle School in Henan Province forced students to stay after school for extra classes on weekends and holidays, claiming they were ‘voluntary’. Dissatisfied with the school's closed management, students in uniform gathered at the school gate, and several high school students climbed the iron fence to climb out of the campus. The on‑site video spread online and was soon blocked and removed by the platform.

On September 13, a blogger who claimed to have attended Hengshui No.2 Middle School in Hebei posted a video exposing high‑pressure control and serious human‑rights violations within the school. She said teachers often beat and verbally abuse students, causing sternum or clavicle fractures; a sophomore girl, after being insulted, cut her wrist in the dormitory; and a female student, seeking protection, developed a relationship with a male teacher, whose homeroom teacher was later taken away on suspicion of rape.

On September 13, a blogger who claimed to be a graduate of Hengshui No. 2 High School posted a video saying that a second-year high school girl suffered a psychological breakdown after being verbally abused by her homeroom teacher and slit her wrists in the dormitory, committing suicide.

On September 13, a blogger who claimed to be a graduate of Hengshui No. 2 High School posted a video saying that under high-pressure controls, some female students, in order to seek so-called protection, developed intimate relationships with male teachers who hold managerial power.

Recently, some netizens have used AI technology to create and publish a video reflecting the current survival status of Chinese students, sparking external attention and discussion regarding the situation and educational pressure of the student group.

A 15-year-old female student at Luancheng Middle School in Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, who scored 736, was repeatedly forced by the school to cut and straighten her naturally curly hair, and was harassed and denied entry. Just 7 days after enrolling, she suffered a mental breakdown and jumped to her death. Her family later protested at the school gate with a petition, and special police were stationed at the scene. After the incident was exposed, graduates and netizens revealed that the school has long had extreme regulations, such as not providing seats in the cafeteria, forcing students to eat standing up, and implementing militarized management.

In September 2026, multiple high schools in Zhengzhou were exposed for implementing Saturday single day off for make-up classes and mandatory boarding since the start of the semester, with schedules from 6 AM to 11:30 PM. Unable to accept the excessively long schedule and the change from two days off to a single day off, students chose to commit suicide after only 10 days of school.

After the start of the school year in September 2026, many high schools in Zhengzhou were exposed for forcing all students to board. The daily schedule lasts from 6:00 AM to 11:30 PM. In addition to regular classes, morning reading and evening self-study sessions are arranged. Some schools have compressed meal times and require students to enter the classroom early for study.

Just 10 days after the start of the fall semester in September 2026, a high school student in Zhengzhou committed suicide, unable to cope with the heavy psychological burden caused by the school's decision to replace the two-day weekend with a one-day weekend for remedial classes.

In September 2026, students at several high schools in Zhengzhou collectively exposed on social media their schools’ forced extra classes and excessively long schedules, and filed online joint petitions to the Henan Provincial Department of Education and the mayor’s hotline, protesting the schools’ illegal deprivation of their statutory right to rest.

On September 11, a Douyin influencer released an AI scenario short film titled "High School Daily Life in the Four Provinces of Rivers and Mountains," featuring details such as waking up at 5 a.m., washing hair in freezing water that turns to ice, noise level meters checking morning reading volume, and point deductions for failing to fold quilts properly. Many netizens in the comment section shared similar personal experiences.

On September 9, AI designer Mihrolla released a surrealist video, using metaphor to showcase the academic burden and ideological constraints in Chinese education.

A student at Kangning Road School in Jiangxia District, Wuhan, was forced to stand as punishment and deprived of their seat by their homeroom teacher because they had not completed the school-assigned task of ordering milk.

Henan University of Economics and Law has implemented a mandatory facial recognition and location-based clock-in attendance system, and stipulates that leave of absence requests require parental cooperation, sparking widespread questioning and dissatisfaction among students regarding the excessive administrative and prison-like management of universities.

Yangxin County Fourth Experimental Primary School in Shandong Province released a list of disciplinary violations, including behaviors such as walking and talking simultaneously and playing with paper airplanes, which were subject to notification and point deductions, sparking heated discussions among netizens.

On September 9, a Douyin user posted a video in which a seventh-grade boy complains that going to school every day is just deceiving himself, saying he arrives at school at 7:30 in the morning and is dismissed at 6 in the afternoon. After imitating self-encouragement, he shouts “I’m going crazy.” Commenters wrote that his life as a beast of burden has just begun.

China University of Petroleum: You're Mom If You Play Games

On September 6, 2026, an ideological and political theory teacher at Xiamen City Vocational College issued a notice strictly forbidding students from sitting in the last three rows, and claimed to use 360-degree panoramic surveillance to strictly check students' head-up rate, sparking ridicule over formalism in ideological and political courses at universities.

On September 5, 2026, primary and secondary school teachers in various regions posted on social media to complain about schools disguisedly forcing donations. Quotas were assigned based on senior teacher rank or permanent staff status, with requirements to post screenshots of the donations in work groups, triggering strong resentment.

On September 5, 2026, Tang Jiafeng, a famous postgraduate entrance exam math tutor, publicly declared that English is merely a tool, calling for an end to English's status as a core course in basic education and an end to the worship of foreign things, sparking fierce public controversy over education reform.

A plan by Zizhuang Primary School in Yongchuan, Chongqing, to charge students a tray-cleaning fee of 45 yuan per semester has sparked controversy. On September 3, 2026, the Yongchuan District Education Commission announced that the charge was non-compliant and ordered the school to stop it immediately.

On September 2, 2026, a parent exposed the schedule of the high school division of Haikou City No. 4 Middle School, which shows that the school forces students to collectively watch a half-hour broadcast of Xinwen Lianbo during the evening self-study period, sparking public discussion.

In Huazhou, Guangdong, a large number of students' parents gathered at the school gate to protest after some students were required to transfer to other campuses, and clashed with police.

Police told Enxu that Li Zheng was being detained on suspicion of organized crime; the report also stated that Li Zheng's network of schools was still registering companies and promoting new schools.

Beijing No. 18 Middle School recently replaced its principal with one from Shandong along with a number of teachers, sparking dissatisfaction over their poor Mandarin, low teaching quality, and an open letter from the principal criticizing students; subsequently, the principal was exposed as allegedly having a prior rape record, leading to collective student protests.

A parent publicly opposed command-style education for first-grade primary school students, arguing that children should be treated with equality and respect.

On September 1, 2026, some kindergartens in Hong Kong had young children perform Chinese-style marching drills to raise the flag at their opening ceremonies, and the Education Bureau disclosed that it had held 40 flag-raising workshops for more than 1,000 kindergarten teachers across Hong Kong to strengthen patriotic identity.

A student at Tengzhou Experimental Middle School in Shandong Province was forced to stand as a punishment for feeling unwell, and was violently beaten by a teacher and had their head pressed against glass until it shattered.

Nanchong No. 1 Middle School in Sichuan recently implemented 'passion education' and 'meticulous management,' establishing detailed assessment standards for morning reading, sitting posture, and running exercises.

On September 1, 2026, at the gate of Hekou Experimental Primary School in Dongying, Shandong, a parent brought their daughter — who was left disabled and confined to a wheelchair after jumping from a building due to corporal punishment — to the school to defend her rights, protesting the school's long-term evasion of responsibility; police arrived to maintain order.

A high school student tearfully complained that school ends at 3:20 pm on Saturday and he must be back before 3:00 pm on Sunday — by the time he gets home, finishes his homework and sleeps, it's basically time to return to school again; meanwhile, the wall next to a public phone at a middle school has been carved full of the words "go home" by students.

A teacher at Tongling No. 1 High School in Anhui, Anhui Province, posted a complaint saying that in addition to regular teaching they must constantly take part in teaching-research activities, write study reflections, work on papers and research projects, and set exam questions, saying: "Why can't work just be teaching? I'm so miserable, I want to escape all of this."

Hong Kong's Education Bureau announced a series of student mainland exchange programs themed on the "90th anniversary of the victory of the Red Army's Long March" for the new school year, arranging for students to visit relevant memorial sites and participate in themed activities.

On August 28, 2026, the Hong Kong Education Bureau sent a circular to all primary and secondary schools across Hong Kong, launching a student mainland exchange program for the 90th anniversary of the Long March victory, organizing students to visit Zunyi and other places to enhance their sense of identity.

On the evening of August 27, 2026, Guangzhou No. 89 Middle School ordered nearly 800 students to continue military training in a rainstorm and forbade them from using umbrellas. Students who felt unwell were berated by those in charge, sparking strong protests from students and parents as well as accusations online.

On August 27, 2026, it was rumored online that Dongguan city, in order to coordinate the traffic congestion when employees of Huawei's terminal headquarters get off work on Fridays, changed nearby schools from two-day weekends to one-day weekends, sparking online discussion.

On August 26, Leibo County in Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan held the 2026 autumn education administration meeting, proposing that teachers scoring below 30 in primary school and below 15 in junior high must collectively take a "shame photo" to motivate teaching performance through humiliating means.

On August 26, 2026, at the autumn education administration meeting in Leibo County, Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan, primary and junior high school teachers whose end-of-term average scores were relatively low were required to go up on stage together and take a group photo in front of a large screen bearing the two characters meaning "shame", sparking strong condemnation of the public humiliation of teachers.

On August 25, 2026, a freshman at Zhejiang University with a leg injury was filmed leaning on crutches as he insisted on taking part in military training. The video prompted netizens to question the compulsory nature of university military training and its inhumane rules.

On August 25, 2026, Aite Qidi Yulongwan Kindergarten in Laiyang, Shandong issued a report stating that family members of 3 students forcibly entered the teaching area and beat the kindergarten director and teachers, causing injuries, and that the kindergarten is cooperating in pursuing legal responsibility against the attackers.

On August 23, 2026, a netizen posted to expose Fuzhou Institute of Technology's high-pressure management, which forces morning check-ins and confiscates phones, and also instructs the student union and students to report and manipulate comments on social platforms regarding negative content about the school.

On August 20, a self-described teacher, Zhang Zhengjie, issued an open letter accusing Zhou Yingchun, Party secretary and principal of Chongqing No. 8 Middle School, of having police take him away from his home in the middle of the night on charges of picking quarrels and provoking trouble, after he reported violations such as illegal admissions, the setting up of key classes, and hyping up college admission rates; the police later terminated the investigation on the grounds that no illegal acts had been found. The letter also relays students' experiences of having only a two-week summer vacation and frequent weekly tests, and calls for an end to illegal make-up classes.

On August 18, 2026, Rongcheng No. 3 Middle School in Weihai, Shandong was reported by students to the oversight authorities, revealing that the school planned to organize Grade 11 students to return early on August 20 for make-up classes and take measures to evade inspections.

On August 12, 2026, the student rights organization 611Study reported that Fengcheng Senior High School in Laiwu, Jinan, required senior-year students to return to school early on August 20 for extra classes and to attend 57 hours of classes per week. The local education department has formally accepted the report of this violation.

On August 11, 2026, a student rights platform revealed that Maxiangbo Senior High School in Danyang, Jiangsu Province, was covertly violating regulations during the summer vacation by requiring enrolled students to participate uniformly in a so-called “summer camp” for centralized make-up classes.

On August 11, 2026, Fengming Senior High School in Tongxiang City, Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, was exposed by students for illegally organizing the Grade 11 Excellence Class to start the new term early and hold centralized remedial classes during the summer vacation.

On August 9, 2026, a student at Yangling Experimental School in Xianyang, Shaanxi submitted a report stating that the school notified students to return nearly a month early for extra classes, that it has long-running high-intensity morning and evening self-study sessions, and that it charges about 500 yuan per month in after-school service fees as well as miscellaneous fees to be borne by students themselves.

On August 9, 2026, a student rights-defense platform received a submission stating that Quanzhou No. 9 Middle School in Fujian, during the summer vacation, illegally issued a notice requiring students to return to school early, ending their holiday ahead of schedule to resume classes.

On August 7, 2026, a student rights defense organization revealed that Yingshan High School in Sichuan Province illegally held supplementary classes and charged students fees during the summer vacation, while publicly claiming to offer free after-school care. During this period, students were forced to stay on campus at noon, and the quality of the cafeteria food was poor.

On August 5, Rushi Academy in Xinchang, Zhejiang, was accused of confiscating students' identification documents and subjecting them to beatings and corporal punishment. The founder was revealed to be a former leader of a pyramid scheme, and local authorities have established a joint investigation team to collect evidence.

On August 5, students at Xinjiang Agricultural University organized materials to report that the school compels students to perform high-temperature, heavy manual labor during the summer vacation at tomato plants and similar facilities, working shifts of up to 12 hours, while confiscating their mobile phones and providing poor accommodation conditions.

On August 5, 2026, Guangzhou No. 113 Middle School in Guangdong Province was exposed by students for using a voluntary pledge as cover to effectively force summer tutoring, and the school sits right next to the Tianhe District Education Bureau building, sparking accusations of regulatory dereliction.

On August 4, 2026, while students at the Development Zone Campus of Qinhuangdao Normal University of Science and Technology in Hebei Province were forced to stay on campus during the summer for centralized classes and internships, a student suddenly went into shock and fell into a coma in the dormitory and was carried away for emergency treatment by paramedics.

On August 2, 2026, students at Jimei Middle School in Liaoyang, Liaoning Province, submitted reports through an online platform, reporting that the school engaged in illegal operations such as unauthorized summer tutoring, arbitrary differentiated fees based on grades, and compulsory weekend labor.

On July 24, 2026, images circulating online showed that Anbo Foreign Language School in Hebi, Henan, had installed sealed iron railings inside the teaching building for its senior year students and welded the corridors shut, sparking widespread criticism from netizens over prison-style campus management and a psychological crisis among students.

From July 21, 2026, Qizhen School in Zhangjiakou, Hebei was exposed for forcing senior year students to attend a fully closed summer tutoring program six days a week, sparking student protests over severe lack of rest.

First-year high school students at Anlu No. 1 High School in Hubei Province staged a collective strike to protest the school's decision to cut their original 20-day summer vacation down to just 5 days. Chanting slogans such as "Against centralization, advocate equality" and "Return our 20-day summer vacation," they ultimately forced the school administration to compromise and restore the long break.

A 10-year-old boy in Yuncheng County, Heze, Shandong, lingered at the school gate on June 29 and failed to enter the school twice, then drowned. After reviewing surveillance footage, his family claimed that he was beaten by his homeroom teacher, surnamed Tan, on 10 of the 12 class days before his death, and at least 8 times in the final week.

In June 2026, Zhizhi Middle School in Hengshui, Hebei was exposed for enforcing strict hairstyle inspections, forbidding students from entering the school with any hairstyle other than a buzz cut; after a student filmed a video disclosing this, the school's teachers sent private messages intimidating the student in the name of the Cyberspace Administration of China, demanding that the post be deleted within a time limit.

Blogger Shiju Insight posted in June this year that some university technician classes failed to recruit enough students and in the end had to hold classes together with ordinary classes starting from junior high school graduates; the teachers' lecturing pace was extremely slow and the content extremely shallow, and high-end skills training turned into a big pot of stew for just killing time.

A university teacher submitted a post arguing that engineering education accreditation, while wearing a non-governmental mask, is actually an administrative directive that reduces engineering universities to formalistic administrative performances, resulting in the 'high schoolization of universities'.

On the evening of May 27, 2026, strict new dormitory phone control rules introduced by Guangzhou Information Technology Vocational School triggered a strong student backlash, with multiple students collectively shouting from the dormitory buildings to protest the mandatory management enforced by the school's student affairs office.

On the evening of May 21, 2026, it was reported online that a grade-11 student at No. 6 Middle School in Lengshuijiang, Hunan, was violently thrown, stomped on, and crushed by his homeroom teacher on the podium in front of everyone, and humiliated, because he was playing on his phone during self-study. After evening self-study ended, the student went home and jumped to his death.

In May 2026, it was reported online that Wenshang County No. 1 Middle School in Jining, Shandong Province sparked collective student protests over long-term cuts to holidays; large numbers of high school students gathered on campus and held banners reading "Fight for national sovereignty abroad, remove national traitors at home" to express their dissatisfaction.

On March 14, a county-seat hospital in Jiangsu Province was photographed setting up a study area in the children's infusion zone, requiring young patients to complete their homework while receiving IV drips.

Students at Leiyang No. 1 Middle School in Leiyang, Hunan Province shouted from the building in a collective protest against the school forcing students to "voluntarily" come to school for self-study, occupying their rest time to hold a school sports meet, leaving only one day of monthly leave.

Online reports claim that China has begun implanting chips into student school uniforms for location tracking and surveillance.

After public attention and police intervention in the investigation, Enxu was allowed to leave the school; 12 days later, the school was closed. The local education bureau said the reasons for its intervention included violations of business scope, overcharging training fees, and providing boarding services.

Netizens submitted records of extreme point deductions at Hengshui No.2 High School, showing that students were frequently penalized for everyday details such as holding books incorrectly, using the restroom at night, not lying down properly while sleeping, and even laughing or combing hair.

Henan examinee Li Mengmeng scored 565, 13 points above the first-tier cutoff, but her paper application form never entered the admission process and was forgotten in the admissions office.

Starting in 2006, rural western China was the first to waive tuition and fees; in 2007 this was extended to all rural areas, and in 2008 free education was achieved in both urban and rural areas. The Two Exemptions and One Subsidy policy covered 150 million rural students, bringing to an end the system of paying fees during the compulsory education stage.

The author's uncle scored excellently on exams at Shanghai No. 5 Middle School in the 1950s, but because his father was a fugitive landlord he could not attend university and was assigned to an agricultural university in the northwest; that school was located in a famine-stricken area where people starved to death. After he returned to Shanghai, his household registration had already been transferred out so he could not re-register there, and he ultimately returned to his hometown in Zhejiang to farm and live out his days.