China criticised as school timetable integrates state news into students’ daily routine

Beijing [China], September 7 (ANI): A Chinese high school in Hainan Province has come under criticism after a reported timetable required students to watch the Chinese state broadcaster’s flagship evening news programme every day, prompting accusations that political messaging is being incorporated into students’ routine education, The Epoch Times reported.
According to The Epoch Times, screenshots shared on Chinese social media reportedly show the schedule for the senior high school division of Haikou No. 4 Secondary School. Students are instructed to spend 30 minutes watching the state-run news broadcast during evening study hours. The reported daily schedule begins at 6:20 a.m. and includes nine classes before students return to their dormitories, where lights are scheduled to be switched off at 11 pm. At 7 pm, students reportedly watch the official news programme for half an hour before undertaking two 70-minute evening study sessions. 
The arrangement has triggered criticism online, with some Chinese social media users likening the tightly controlled routine to prison schedules. Others questioned why students should be required to watch what they described as Communist Party political propaganda as part of their education. A woman said she was unsure about the matter after hearing the purpose of the call and subsequently ended the conversation.
The controversy has also revived wider concerns over political education in China. A Jiangsu resident stated that political messaging was already deeply embedded in his child’s schooling, citing daily flag-raising ceremonies, national anthem performances and textbooks that portray the Communist Party positively, as highlighted by The Epoch Times.
The resident also said his four-year-old son had recently begun learning so-called “red songs”, music associated with communist revolutionary themes in kindergarten. He questioned whether such practices amounted to ideological indoctrination from an early age. A Hainan-based academic stated that the key concern was whether students had access to information beyond state-controlled media, as reported by The Epoch Times. (ANI)