As part of China's 'education reform', several college students in the Jiangsu province were violently suppressed when they protested against the transfer of their undergraduate colleges to 'vocational' undergraduate institutions.
According to local reports, students from five Chinese schools issued a joint statement and launched large-scale protests after at least five independent colleges were "transferred" from undergraduates to so-called "vocational undergraduates". The video footage of the protests showed the police using arms and the arrests of several students.
According to the statement issued by the Jiangsu Educational Institution on June 7, it is necessary to explore the 'in-province' independent colleges of 'school-in-charge' under the "Independent College Transfer Plan" issued by the National Education Bureau in May.
The higher vocational and technical colleges will be merged into "undergraduate-level vocational schools".
On June 6 and 7, the Hanlin College of Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, North China College of Nanjing Normal University, Taizhou College of Nanjing Normal University, Jingjiang College of Jiangsu University, and Xinglin College of Nantong University successively issued statements condemning the move.
The students believed that although it was officially declared the independent college after the "transfer" is still "at the same level as ordinary undergraduates", once any school is downgraded, it will inevitably seriously affect the future law entrance examination and postgraduate entrance examination, according to local reports.
The students launched widespread protests against the move and online videos showed them angrily shouting slogans. However, a large number of police personnel soon arrived and violently suppressed the protest. Several students were arrested by law enforcement.
This comes days after the 32nd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, which remains one of the politically sensitivity issues in China as Chinese soldiers cracked down on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing on June 4, 1989, killing thousands of students.
Till date, China tries to stifle any discussion over the incident and has excluded the topic from the textbooks of Chinese students.
( With inputs from ANI )
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