In Huichang county, eight schools have recently been equipped with a total of 1,966 sets of desks and chairs that can be converted into a nap bed. - HUICHANG COUNTY EDUCATION AND SPORTS BUREAU
BEIJING: An increasing number of schools in China have upgraded their desks and chairs which can be seamlessly converted into a nap bed to allow students to have a more comfortable sleep.
Take, for example, Huichang, a county in eastern China’s Jiangxi province, where the local government in August began equipping eight of its schools with 1,966 sets of recliner chairs and foldable desks.
It takes just seconds for the students to pull out a leg rest from under the chair, push back the backrest, and tip up the desktop to make space for a comfortable lie-down during their mid-day break, according to Huichang’s official media centre.
“In the past, when we take our naps, we could only hunch over the desk to rest, which made our necks sore. Now we can lie down straight,” said Cai Minhui, a student at Fucheng Central Elementary School, one of the schools in Huichang that received the new classroom furniture.
The school’s vice-principal, Liang Yuling, said the change will help students to focus better in school.
In China, it is common for students to have naps at school in the middle of the day, according to Chinese state-owned online publication Sixth Tone.
However, students would usually nap by hunching over their desks and experts have warned that it may be detrimental for children’s growth.
In 2021, the Ministry of Education called for schools to ensure students get enough sleep.
According to China Daily, the ministry issued a series of guidelines recommending that primary school pupils get at least 10 hours’ sleep a day, while those at junior middle schools and high schools should have nine and eight hours respectively.
On Chinese social media platform Weibo, netizens praised the move by the schools, with one saying his chair did not even come with a backrest in his days, while another said he did not even have food to eat during break time when he was in high school.
Some netizens also questioned whether a typical classroom is big enough for the chairs to recline.
“There are 55 students in my child’s class. Where are they going to find the space for these?” said user Fu Hua 12345 on WeChat messaging and social media app. - The Straits Times/ANN
