Coronavirus outbreak pushes schools to embrace online classes… and virtual flag raising ceremonies

While China continues to grapple with the coronavirus outbreak, schools across the country have embraced online classes. When the new semester kicked off on Monday in Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, more than 100 hundred million students and parents reportedly joined in watching 426 classes online.

Hashtags about the new experience have been trending on Weibo. Topics include “Online classes are bullying people”, “The awkwardness of online classes”, and “When teachers turn into live streaming hosts”. Some of the hashtags have drawn hundreds of millions of views.

One of the most viral incidents involves a live-streamed biology class. One user said on Weibo that when her brother’s teacher mentioned sperms and eggs to explain meiosis, a type of cell division used by sexually-reproducing organisms, the live-streamed class was cut off by the platform Huya. Huya displayed a message saying that the content violated regulations.

Most online comments speculated that the class was blocked for sexual content, and many said they found it funny and sad at the same time. But in a statement posted on Weibo, Huya said that the ban was triggered by the platform’s IP protection measures. During the live stream, the user included videos from other video platforms, the company said.

But going to school online involves more than just sitting at your desk and looking at your screen. Some schools also moved their national flag raising ceremonies online, which are typically held weekly on school playgrounds. In videos posted on Weibo by state media, students are shown saluting the Chinese flag displayed on their laptops, tablets and TVs.