Colleges in China are now allowing students an entire week off to ‘fall in love’ as per a report in NDTV. The move comes amid an active attempt to reverse the country’s declining population problem.
“Learn to love nature, love life, and enjoy love through enjoying the spring break,” is what the colleges ask of their students while they focus on romance in their seven days off from April 1.
“I hope that students can go to see the green water and green mountains and feel the breath of spring. This will not only broaden students’ horizons and cultivate their sentiments, but also enrich and deepen the teaching content in the classroom,” said the deputy dean of Mianyang Flying Vocational College, one of the nine institutions that have taken it upon themselves to increase the population of China.
Though it may sound like a vacation, these colleges are very strict about the results that they seek from their students and to ensure they actually work hard to fall in love, students are given homework to write diaries, make travel videos, and track their personal development.
As China’s 1.4 billion population declines and ages, in part because of a policy that limited couples to one child from 1980 to 2015, policymakers are faced with a growing urgency to address the situation.