University creates mess when mandatory janitorial program designed to prepare students for the real world backfires

By Bai Tiantian Source:Global Times Published: 2014-9-14 21:57:49

Students clean dorm hallways at Nanchang University, Jiangxi Province. Photo: IC



For Zhou Chuangbing, a renowned Chinese geomechanics expert, finding a solution for a complex drainage system is an easy task. But figuring out why his "Do-it-yourself (DIY) Cleaning" program failed so miserably is, unfortunately, an entirely different story.

Zhou, also president of Nanchang University in Jiangxi Province, fired all the janitors working in the school's dormitories earlier this month and ordered students to take up mops themselves. Their new chores included cleaning hallways and shared restrooms on each floor.

Zhou's intentions were simple - show students that life's hardships can be overcome through determination and teamwork.

The results, however, were messy. Trash bags sat in the hallways for weeks. Toilets were constantly clogged and smelly.

No longer able to tolerate the mess and the terrible odor that came with it, the students protested.

Hundreds signed a petition claiming that Zhou's policy was made without a public review and uploaded it online. The letter soon went viral, which triggered a nationwide debate and eventually led the university to agree to re-hire its dormitory restroom janitors on Friday.

Zhou's dilemma is one of many school policies failing in their aim to "toughen students up."

Although some recognized his intentions, a majority of Nanchang University students, as well as their parents, voted against it.

"There are many ways to train students to bear hardship and teamwork. Zhou's program was a little extreme," said a parent.

A shared dormitory bathroom left uncleaned. Photo: CFP





Full sweep

A week after the "DIY Cleaning" program began on September 1, 472 students signed the petition protesting it.

Zhen Sen (pseudonym), a junior behind the petition initiative, argues that the program has harmed the mental and physical health of the student body.

Zhen claimed scheduling was so chaotic that men were sometimes assigned to clean the women's restrooms and vice versa.

"The school insisted on carrying out the program even though several dorms reported unsatisfactory results after the try-out. The program has clearly violated the rules of campus democracy," Zhen said.

"Another problem is that a part of our dormitory fees was allocated to cleaning. Now that all the janitors are fired, the school failed to indicate what it will do with that money or whether those fees will be returned to the students," Zhen noted.

Other students reached by the Global Times voiced similar concerns.

A senior surnamed Zhao said that the janitorial duties were challenging because water pressure in dorms decreases drastically above the fourth floor and the school cuts the main supply every night after 11 pm.

"Some students just stopped using the dorm bathrooms because there're too much trouble to clean," Zhao said.

The story led some Netizens to question whether today's college students have grown lazy and can care for themselves.

"A majority of the students born after 1990 are from single child families and have little work ethic. I believe that such training could help promote many good Chinese virtues," Zhou said. 

Others asked if these students had the survival skills necessary for life after graduation if they can't do something as simple as cleaning their own dorm.

Zhen admitted that some students may be lazy, but said the debate wouldn't have gone viral if the issue was that simple.

"College students nowadays are more aware of their rights and more capable of fighting against things they feel unfair and unreasonable," Zhen said.

Fight for independence

Letting students take up janitorial work is one of the many controversial methods that aim to cultivate survival skills among Chinese students.

Others include mandatory military training for high school and college students and not installing air conditioners and water heaters in dorm rooms.

In an interview with the Oriental Post, the 52-year-old Zhou described today's students as being "soft" in character and said that he had "done much, much more when he was young."

His statement resonated with those of his generation, many of whom had lived through the Cultural Revolution (1967-77) and the Down to the Countryside Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, which saw the central government relocating urban youth to the countryside to live under harsh conditions for "personal growth."

Despite the painful memories, some are now seeing the value of surviving those hardships and are seeking to pass on those experiences to younger generations.

"The reason behind Zhou drawing a comparison between today's students and his generation could be that he is trying to have his students re-live his experiences," Chu Chaohui, a research fellow with the National Institute of Educational Sciences, told the Global Times.

"Zhou sees that part of his life as an important part of shaping the man he is today and wants his students to benefit from that experience," said Chu.

Zhen, for his part, said he understands his school's intentions. "It's just the program had the opposite effect," he said.

Another student who requested anonymity told the Global Times that he would agree to Zhou's program if he comes up with a better proposal and better management.

"What Mr. Zhou is missing here is that people and society change with time. He may have come with good intentions but the students felt they were forced into a program they did not sign up for. They felt that their university president approached them not as their equal, but as their regulator," Chu said.
Newspaper headline: Clean up their act


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