A secondary school in central China is facing criticism after a video emerged of employees forcing students to eat while standing next to a table, separating them by gender.
The school canteen in Henan province was equipped with rows of tables without chairs that required the students to stand and hunch over as they ate, according to a viral video on Douyin, China’s TikTok.
The video was uploaded by a part-time employee, surnamed Li, who attends Donghua University in Shanghai, and was visiting the secondary school to help students with their university applications.
The school defended its decision to remove chairs from the canteen, saying that although they initially had seats, they decided that removing them “was more beneficial than harmful”.
Administrators said the chairs had previously tripped students several times, so standing while eating was “safer”.
The school also added that students needed to stretch their legs and move around after sitting too long in classrooms.
Li explained that separating the male and female students was meant to prevent early romantic relationships. It is common for parents in China to dissuade teen relationships so their children can focus on their studies.
In the video caption, Li compared the school to a famous military-style secondary school in China, which is extremely controversial in the country.
“I would call this school a slightly better version of Hengshui,” Li wrote.
At Hengshui Secondary School, students follow strict rules and regulations, with the primary goal of achieving high scores on the gaokao, China’s national college entrance exam.
Despite criticisms, Hengshui’s rigorous discipline has led to positive results, with a relatively high number of students earning admission to top universities in mainland China, prompting other schools to emulate its model.
Other online observers remained sceptical about the Henan school’s decision to remove the chairs.
“The school said its decision was in the interest of the students, but they don’t care about the actual feelings of the children,” one person commented.
“Is this a school or a prison?” another person said.
Yet, others pointed out that this is a common practice.
“My secondary school also removed the chairs in the canteen,” said one online observer from Henan. “Teachers told us it would make us eat faster so we could return to studying sooner. If there were chairs, everyone would sit and chat, slowing the eating process.”
Last November, another secondary school in Hebei in north China was reported by angry parents for forcing students to eat while standing.
However, both the school and the local education department claimed these students were willing to eat while standing because they “loved to study”, reported Dawan News.
According to data released by provincial education departments, Henan had around 1.3 million students taking the gaokao in 2024, 20 times the number of students taking the exam in Beijing.
The province has consistently had the highest number of participants nationwide in recent years. Meanwhile, its college admission rate remains among the lowest in the country.
