Chinese government-endorsed content about the COVID-19 pandemic and the “fighting spirit” of the nation’s response are to be added to school curriculum, the Chinese Ministry of Education said, in a move to enshrine Beijing’s narrative of success against the virus.
The content is to be added to elementary and middle-school classes in biology, health and physical education, history and literature, and will “help students understand the basic fact that the party and the state always put the life and safety of its people first,” the ministry said on Wednesday last week.
“Students will learn about key figures and deeds which emerged during the epidemic prevention and control efforts. They will learn to foster public awareness and dedication, to enrich knowledge about the advantages of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics,” the ministry said.
Earlier this year the National People’s Congress aired a proposal for the successes to be enshrined in the school curriculum, and content about China’s “fighting spirit” had already been incorporated into some high-school subjects, Sixthtone reported.
While there was domestic pushback on China’s virus response, in particular the early attempts to cover up the outbreak and silence health workers who tried to speak out, the government has presented its efforts as hugely successful in containing COVID-19.
In June, it released a report lauding its own success and denying there was any coverup. The nation has largely contained the virus, and sporadic outbreaks — most recently in the Xinjiang region — are quickly clamped down on with local lockdowns and mass testing.
However, there are concerns about the approaching winter, and the National Development and Reform Commission has called on local governments to “guide families” in storing medical supplies ahead of a heightened risk of a COVID-19 resurgence and the flu.
In Guangdong Province, the health commission has released a list of 33 items for families to stock up on, from masks and anti-bacterial swabs to first-aid material and emergency supplies, such as biscuits, water, escape rope ladders and flashlights. Beijing, Jinan, Ningbo and other cities have issued similar recommendations to households.
Hospitals and clinics are also stockpiling emergency supplies, including preparing stadiums, exhibition halls and other public venues for the possibility of being turned into temporary quarantine wards.
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