One of China’s top schools has been causing quite some controversies after installing metal bars on the balconies to prevent students from jumping to their deaths. Read more from Scoop:
When questioned about the bizarre additions, officials at Hengshui No. 2 High School revealed that they were forced to install ‘anti-suicide iron barriers’, after two students jumped to their deaths in the past six months. Apparently, some of the students have a hard time enduring the military-style rules enforced at the school and suffer stress-induced nervous meltdowns. They did however add some potted plants as well, to lighten the mood and make the building feel less bleak.
It turns out several schools in Hengshui City, where the school is located, are notorious for their harsh and exacting approach towards education. Apparently, these schools expect students to work hard all day long, with the sole purpose succeeding at the dreaded ‘gaokao’ college entrance exam.
Students are required to wake up at 5:30 in the morning and go to sleep by 10:10 at night, with 12 classes in between. “During nap time, we are only allowed to lie in bed and forbidden to go to bathroom,” a former student told the press. The school’s military-style rules also state that all meals must be finished within 15 minutes and toilet breaks are less than three minutes.
