The news about “double weekends” spread to Hengshui a few days after the start of the new semester. This made parents anxious and even panicked.
“Letting high school students have double weekends is completely absurd.” On the morning of February 26, in front of Hengshui Taihua Middle School, Zhang Guojun took out his phone to show me the notification he had just received – in the “Taihua Middle School, Langfang, Dachang carpool group”, someone sent a message saying, “Hello parents, it is expected to be a holiday this Friday, and return to school on Sunday. Those who take the bus can sign up, note the pick-up and drop-off locations, one-way or return trip.”
Parents show messages in the WeChat group
In the past, Zhang Guojun thought this kind of news was normal, but recently, many self-media have been hyping “Cangzhou Renqiu High School fired the first shot of double weekends in Hebei”, and parents are worried that this trend will spread to Hengshui.
“Are we going to have double weekends?” he couldn’t help but ask the parents beside him. The children had just started school on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month. According to the school’s usual practice of taking a break every three or four weeks, it was far from the time for a holiday, “It’s only been two weeks since the start of school, and we’re already being notified to rest, which is obviously not normal.”
Although the school did not explicitly state that they would have double weekends, Zhang Guojun still speculated based on this, “This is a signal that Hengshui is going to have double weekends.”
He was a little panicked – his home is in Dachang, Langfang, more than 300 kilometers away from Hengshui, a drive of more than 3 hours. If the children have two days off, it means he needs to make a 900-kilometer round trip to pick them up and drop them off within two or three days. Driving is secondary. What worries Zhang Guojun more is, “If this is done, the Hengshui education model will be completely ruined.”
He is facing the possible double weekends as if facing a formidable enemy, not knowing how to cope.
Since its official implementation in 1995, the double weekend system has been in place for 30 years. And it is such a statutory product that has become an unattainable luxury here. While the middle class and white-collar workers are talking about the “four-day work, three-day rest” work model, Hengshui’s high school students have long been deprived of the right to double weekends.
“Hengzhong Universe”
Hengshui Middle School is probably the brightest name card in this southeastern Hebei city. Here, students’ studies, and even eating and sleeping, are precise to the minute. A teacher who once went to Hengzhong to learn from and study the “Hengzhong model” described in an interview with the media that in Hengzhong, he “felt that the students all had a strong sense of purpose. They run no matter where they go. You can’t see the kind of leisurely pace in the campus.”
The “Hengzhong model” has also been gradually copied to various high schools in Hengshui, forming a “Hengzhong Universe”. Talking about double weekends in the “Hengzhong Universe” is simply a fantasy. “Double weekends? How is that possible!” Li Jiajia’s expression was a little surprised when he heard these two words. He studies at Hengshui No. 2 Middle School, which is rumored to be a school with stricter management than Hengzhong – getting up at 5:30 in the morning every day, running exercises at 5:40, having half an hour of morning reading after the exercises at 6 o’clock, and then leaving some time for breakfast; the first class starts at 7 o’clock, there is an hour for lunch and a nap at noon, and it goes on until 9:30 in the evening, and you must go to bed at 10 o’clock. Almost every time slot is seamlessly connected.
“It’s possible to fall behind even if you study hard, let alone relax.” Li Jiajia told me that the school takes a break every three or four weeks, and it lasts for two or three days. Since he entered high school, he has not known what double weekends are.
Students usually don’t have the concept of weekends. On Saturdays and Sundays at school, most of the time is spent taking weekly tests. It’s already the biggest reward for teachers to occasionally show a movie with a projector. On the two days he rarely goes home, he wanted to relax and play with his phone, but the school always assigns a lot of holiday homework. After finally finishing his homework, he picked up his phone, and his parents started urging him to study again. Don’t let down our efforts and expectations, his parents always say. Li Jiajia doesn’t refute, and when he gets really annoyed, he retorts, “Do you know that there was a suicide at our school before?” This trick works very well, and every time he “threatens”, he can get a few hours of freedom. When he returns to school, he falls into the repetitive life of copy and paste. No one in the school will mention double weekends – that’s too far away. When I told him that Renqiu High School required double weekends, he shook his head, “I’m afraid that high school students in Hengshui can’t do it. Otherwise, what’s the point of Hengshui’s education?”
Hengshui Middle School, which has been creating college entrance examination myths for years
“Double weekends are just a dream.” Zhou Xin, a student at Hengshui Middle School, was able to catch her breath outside the school while her family came to “visit the class”. No matter what time of day, you can always see parents in twos and threes in front of the Hengzhong gate, looking into the campus across the wall. Occasionally, people with accents from other places stand in front of the school gate to take selfies and check in.
Zhou Xin revealed that Hengzhong usually takes a break every three weeks, but it often only lasts for one day, “That is to say, you go home after school this afternoon, and you have to come back tomorrow night.” On that day, she usually does nothing but sleep. Her parents are relatively open-minded and don’t urge her to study, and they always take her out to watch movies and catch dolls during the winter and summer vacations. Although these days are happy, Zhou Xin feels a little guilty when she thinks that other students are studying.
Since the implementation of the double weekend system in 1995, has Hengzhong had double weekends? Zhou Xin doesn’t know, at least she hasn’t heard the older students in the previous few sessions mention it. In her understanding, super high schools like Hengzhong are all rolled out, and once you enter that environment, you can only be swept forward and cannot stop or breathe.
“If we really have double weekends, the sky will fall”
The more Zhang Guojun talks about the topic of double weekends, the angrier he gets, “Their brains are broken.” He is referring to the people who are asking students to have double weekends.
Zhang Guojun told me that he didn’t intend to send his child to study so far away back then. But his wife, who is a teacher, was attracted to Hengshui’s educational resources. Although Taihua Middle School is a private school, since it is in Hengshui, it is part of the “Hengzhong Universe”. In the interview, Hengshui’s educational resources were repeatedly mentioned by parents. The underlying logic is that since they choose to send their children to this “education factory” that has always been known for its iron fist, they are attracted to its strict and high-pressure education model. Under this model, children should operate like machines until they “become the most in-form dark horse” in the college entrance examination.
A parent who came to Hengshui to see their child
Here, everything a student does should be planned and managed. And double weekends just break this plan.
In order to coordinate with the school’s schedule, Zhang Guojun even adjusted his work. The school’s holiday time is not fixed, sometimes three weeks, sometimes four weeks. In order to pick up and drop off his child, he doesn’t dare to go far easily. He originally worked as a sales manager in a company and needed to travel frequently; after his child went to Hengshui to study, he took the initiative to apply for a transfer and became an administrative manager.
A few days ago, when he saw some self-media saying that Renqiu High School started double weekends, he had a bad premonition – “It’s really possible to fire the first shot”, and what he least wanted to see was Hengshui implementing double weekends. He discussed the contingency plan with his wife. If they really had double weekends, would one of them have to rent a house in Hengshui to accompany their child to study? But his wife is a teacher, and he also has a nine-to-five job. This is not realistic.
After communicating with other parents, Zhang Guojun finally came up with a solution – if they really have double weekends, they will find a tutoring service for their child. It is not difficult to find this kind of tutoring institution, and there are advertisements around almost every school. Most of these advertisements are posted outside shopping malls and are mixed with advertisements for the treatment of sexually transmitted diseases and skin diseases. Those students who have two days or two and a half days off every three or four weeks will choose to live in tutoring institutions if they don’t go home. The tutoring price is not high – 500 yuan for two days or two and a half days, and they can also provide free pick-up and drop-off, three meals a day, etc.
Dormitories of tutoring institutions
This seemingly simple and feasible method will also be questioned by parents. “Those tutoring institutions are very chaotic, with both elementary school students and junior and senior high school students. Although the male and female dormitories are separated, the boys and girls are in the same institution. If they fall in love early, it will be a big problem.”
During my few days in Hengshui, I visited many schools in this city and talked to several parents. Without exception, not a single parent supports double weekends, and the reasons are roughly “delaying studies” and “trouble with pick-up and drop-off”. “Children are also playing with their phones when they go home, and they have no self-control at all. If they are at school, the teachers can still take good care of them,” complained a parent of a student at Hengshui No. 14 Middle School.
His logic is very simple – the current children can’t bear hardships at all, and they can’t be said or scolded. In many cases, parents are completely at a loss as to how to educate their children. “Staying at school every day, at least they won’t go astray.” But he also admits that the current children are indeed hard-working, “My niece is in high school in Hengshui. She told me during the Chinese New Year that some classmates had psychological problems and would secretly drink laundry detergent and cut themselves with a knife.”
Compared to Hengshui, Cangzhou, which is more than 100 kilometers away, has a more positive attitude towards double weekends, whether from the public or the government.
On March 14, 2024, a person named Jia left a message on the Cangzhou Municipal Government’s message board, “According to the Hebei Provincial Department of Education’s Document No. 2022 (2) of the Hebei Education Foundation, double weekends and related policies are implemented. Xianxian County, without the permission of relevant units, implements a three-week, one-day holiday system, which violates the regulations. We request an investigation of the First Middle School of Xianxian County.”
The Cangzhou Municipal Government Office replied, “After investigation and verification by Xianxian County, because the school needs to undertake four major enrollment examinations this semester, including the high vocational single enrollment examination, the high school academic level examination, the general college entrance examination, and the junior high school academic level examination, each holiday is about five days, and the intervals between each holiday are short, which has a great impact on the completion of the teaching tasks this semester. In order to ensure sufficient teaching time and complete the teaching tasks with high quality, after research by the school leadership team, the holiday time was adjusted. The Xianxian County government has instructed the First Middle School of Xianxian County to actively communicate and explain with parents and students, and to let students rest well during the holidays, and then return to school to study after the holidays.”
Not long ago, high schools in Renqiu and Hejian counties and cities under the jurisdiction of Cangzhou successively released information about double weekends. “We don’t know why Cangzhou is doing this. But if Hengshui really has double weekends, the sky will fall,” Zhang Guojun said.
A mere formality
In Fan Qiang’s view, “If the college entrance examination is not reformed, it is impossible for high school students to have full double weekends.” Fan Qiang, who is in his 50s, works in the management of a middle school in Hengshui. He declined to be named for an interview, but agreed to talk about the topic of double weekends on the condition that I try to protect his privacy.
Fan Qiang told me that he hesitated when he saw some schools rumored to have double weekends online, “Double weekends have been called for many years, why are they being hyped now?” He also specifically asked the school’s vice principal to check whether the province had issued a notice recently. The vice principal checked and inquired around, and said that he had not received an official notice – the latest news was in 2022, when the Hebei Provincial Department of Education issued the “Notice on Regulating the Daily Education and Teaching Management of Primary and Secondary Schools”, which required “not to occupy weekends or statutory holidays to carry out cultural teaching activities”.
“I dare say that there are not many high schools in Hebei Province that will do that, even if there is a notice, it is just a mere formality.” In Fan Qiang’s view, double weekends will of course affect learning. He also can’t figure out why double weekends are being mentioned again during this period.
There are also Beijing license plates among the vehicles picking up and dropping off children at the gate of Taihua Middle School
The origin of double weekends can be traced back to 1995. In that year, the State Council revised the “Regulations of the State Council on the Working Hours of Employees”, which clearly stated that “state organs and public institutions shall implement unified working hours, and Saturdays and Sundays shall be rest days”, but this provision also left a loophole, “enterprises and public institutions that cannot implement the unified working hours stipulated in the preceding paragraph may flexibly arrange the weekly rest days according to the actual situation”.
Although a loophole was opened, since it was implemented on May 1, 1995, most industries and units have implemented double weekends. But many middle schools, especially high schools, have not implemented the double weekend system in order to pursue the enrollment rate.
Relevant departments are obviously aware of this, and have continuously issued documents requiring double weekends in the following years.
As early as 1998, the Ministry of Education issued a “Notice on Carrying out Special Supervision and Inspection of Basic Education Nationwide”, which required all provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, and Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps) across the country to carry out special supervision and inspection for two consecutive years in 1998 and 1999, one of which was specifically “reducing the excessive burden of students’ course work”.
After the supervision and inspection, the General Office of the Ministry of Education clearly pointed out in the “Report on the Special Supervision and Inspection of Basic Education Nationwide in 1998-1999” that “the task of reducing the burden is very arduous. At present, there is a phenomenon of classes on weekends in middle schools, especially in junior high school and senior high school graduating classes”.
In 2008, the Ministry of Education again pointed out in the “Notice of the Ministry of Education on Issuing the Work Plan for the Prevention and Control of Myopia in Primary and Secondary School Students” that “do not occupy holidays, weekends and winter and summer vacations to organize students to attend classes”. In 2009, the Ministry of Education’s “Guiding Opinions on Strengthening the Management of Primary and Secondary Schools and Standardizing School Operations” proposed “not to occupy students’ statutory rest time to work overtime or have collective make-up classes”. Fan Qiang said that regarding the issue of double weekends, not only did the Ministry of Education issue documents, but Hengshui also had clear regulations very early on. In July 2015, the Hengshui Municipal Education Bureau also mentioned in the “Notice on Further Standardizing and Strengthening the Management of Education and Teaching in Primary and Secondary Schools” that “schools shall not occupy weekends, statutory holidays and winter and summer vacations to organize students to attend classes or have collective make-up classes”.
Also in 2015, a college entrance examination bulletin was erected at the gate of Hengshui Middle School, which clearly stated, “The passing rate of the first-tier universities is 86.6%, 104 people were admitted to Tsinghua University and Peking University, and they won the provincial champions in liberal arts and sciences, taking the provincial 15 consecutive championships with absolute advantages.” This bulletin quickly triggered heated discussions online, and Hengshui Middle School was thus caught in a public opinion vortex. As the controversy escalated, the nickname “college entrance examination factory” of Hengshui Middle School was officially called.
In Fan Qiang’s impression, many high schools, including Hengzhong, have not implemented double weekends.
In 2016, the Hengshui Municipal Education Bureau issued another document, requiring “to truly implement the work of reducing the excessive burden of students’ course work”. At the same time, the educational concept of the “Hengzhong model” blossomed across the country. For a time, Hengshui became an educational myth. “Think about it, if the high schools in Hengshui all have double weekends, how can they create a myth?” Fan Qiang told me that Hengshui has three name cards, Hengshui Lake, Hengshui Laobaigan, and Hengshui Middle School, “Double weekends may reduce the quality of teaching, how to protect the golden signboard?” Fan Qiang believes that this is one of the main reasons why Hengshui’s double weekends remain on paper.
“If we want to reduce the burden, we can let the first and second graders have double weekends, and the third graders take a break every two weeks, and gradually change.” Fan Qiang gave suggestions based on his own experience, but he also emphasized that this requires a top-down reform, not just mentioning double weekends.
As long as education is still competitive, it is difficult to have double weekends
“How will society change if the eight-hour work system and double weekends are strictly implemented?” – A few years ago, someone asked on Zhihu.
“It will become normal.” A netizen replied.
As a teacher in a public middle school in Hengshui, Jiang Min told me that from the bottom of her heart, she desperately wants double weekends, but this is basically a luxury. She has similar views to Fan Qiang, “As long as Hengshui is still competitive in education, it is difficult to have double weekends.”
“I can only sleep four or five hours a day.” As a head teacher, the students run exercises at six o’clock in the morning, and Jiang Min has to get up at 5:30 and stand on the playground to wait for the students to come; at 10 o’clock in the evening, the students go to bed, and she still has to check the dormitories. When she gets back to her place, she has to deal with some things, and it is usually midnight.
Being a head teacher in middle school means not only teaching, but also worrying about other things. Any emotional problems that students have need to be intervened as early as possible. For example, some students kick the door for no reason, which Jiang Min sees as having emotional problems and must notify their parents to take them home. “Let alone double weekends, as teachers, as long as we don’t have a terminal illness, we dare not take a break until the late stage (cancer).”
A corner of Hengshui Middle School
And this system, which is considered difficult to implement in the Hengshui education circle, is gradually being promoted in schools outside Hengshui.
In the published work and rest time of a middle school in Qingdao, Shandong, it is clearly noted that “double weekends on weekends, the school does not agree to arrange classes or exams. The school opens the campus on Saturdays, and students voluntarily choose whether to come to school to participate in self-study”. A high school in Anhui Province also issued a notice, “Students are on holiday after the evening self-study on Friday, and come to school for classes on Monday morning (the third grade is on holiday after the evening self-study on Saturday)”.
On February 18, the Suzhou Municipal Education Bureau replied to netizens, saying, “Suzhou primary and secondary schools strictly abide by the relevant requirements according to the relevant arrangements of the Education Bureau and the Education Department, ensuring double weekends for the first and second grades, and the third grade can use Saturdays for self-study tutoring. Evening self-study in high school is based on the principle of voluntariness, and the end time shall not be later than 21:30”. The Changsha Municipal Education Bureau clearly stated, “It is strictly forbidden for high school students to have make-up classes in statutory holidays, winter and summer vacations”.
In stark contrast to the attitude of parents who regard double weekends as a scourge, many students expressed their longing for double weekends on the People’s Daily Online Leader Message Board.
On February 25, a student from Nanyang, Henan, left a message, “I am a high school student in Nanyang. I saw online that some areas have implemented the double weekend policy, specifically Zhengzhou and Luoyang. I would like to ask when it can be popularized to Nanyang?” On February 27, a student from Pingding County, Shanxi, left a message, “I am a second-year high school student in Pingding County, and I hope to implement high school double weekends as soon as possible”.
Among them, a high school student in Changsha wrote a very sincere message: “Our high school students’ current schedule is: classes all day from Monday to Saturday, and we have to go back to school for self-study on Sunday evenings. It feels like we are studying seven days a week, and we don’t even have time to breathe. When I get home, my parents also signed me up for tutoring classes. To be honest, I really feel very tired. Sometimes I write homework until the early hours of the morning, and I am sleepy in class the next day. Although I really want to listen to the teacher’s lectures, I am really too sleepy to listen. And if we take so many classes a week and still don’t get good grades, I always feel that I have let down my parents and teachers’ expectations, so I feel a lot of psychological pressure.”
The message also said, “However, our school started double weekends in the first week. Although I don’t know if it will be like this in the future, we are all very happy to go home this week! On Friday evening, I had a meal with my family and talked about school life. Although I made up half a day of classes on Saturday, the pressure was much less. The most important thing is that I can sleep in on Sunday and sleep until 9 o’clock before getting up, which makes up for our long-term lack of sleep”.
At the end of the message, the student, on behalf of all the high school students in Changsha, implored the leaders to support the “high school double weekend” policy, “so that we can have more time to rest, think, and grow.” I gave this message to a high school student in Hengshui to read, and he choked up as he read it word by word, “To be honest, I don’t have the courage to speak out like this classmate.”
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