A leaked schedule from the high school division of Haikou City No. 4 Middle School shows that students are required to watch the CCTV News Broadcast for half an hour during their evening study session, sparking criticism from netizens regarding political indoctrination on campus. Netizens from Suzhou expressed concerns that the official propaganda of the Chinese Communist Party is being integrated into students’ daily schedules, with even 4-year-old children in kindergartens being required to sing revolutionary songs.
In recent days, screenshots of the “Haikou City No. 4 Middle School (High School Division) Schedule” have been circulating in Chinese online chat groups. The schedule indicates that students are expected to wake up at 6:20 a.m., attend nine classes in the morning and afternoon, and have their dormitory doors closed and lights out by 11 p.m. What has upset parents is the evening study session starting at 7 p.m., with the first activity being “watching the CCTV News Broadcast” from 7 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., followed by two 70-minute study sessions.
When contacted by a reporter from The Epoch Times, an office staff member from Haikou City No. 4 Middle School responded with “not sure” before hanging up the phone.
A netizen from Suzhou, known as “Xiaotao,” told a reporter: “Schools here require daily flag-raising ceremonies and singing the national anthem. Textbooks praise the Communist Party. Children have already realized that, no matter how hard they study, they’ll end up being mere tools in the future. The brainwashing method of forcing students to watch the CCTV News Broadcast has triggered resistance among students, leading more and more parents to develop animosity towards the Communist Party.”
“Xiaotao” revealed that his 4-year-old son came home singing revolutionary songs, which turned out to be taught by his kindergarten teacher. He expressed concern about this indoctrination from a young age, questioning how many people still believe in the Communist Party given the brainwashing they underwent while growing up.
The issue has sparked discussions on social media platforms, with some netizens commenting that it’s just a “brainwashing program,” while others made comparisons to prison schedules and meals. One netizen even likened the arrangement to forcing the installation of a “Unified Thought System,” sarcastically highlighting how students are being fed a uniform political ideology.
Academic Yao Li from Hainan stated that the controversy lies in whether schools allow students to access information from diverse sources. He remarked: “The CCTV News Broadcast is not just an ordinary news program; it serves as a main platform for the dissemination of political information and the promotion of Party leaders by the CCP. I believe this requirement likely comes from higher authorities. By including watching the program in the schedule, schools are subjecting students to a single information source at a fixed time daily, which goes beyond standard news education. Many parents desire to send their children abroad to prevent their education from turning them into ‘brainwashed’ individuals.”
Hainan netizens in the comments section mentioned similar arrangements in other local schools. Some shared their own experiences of having to watch the CCTV News Broadcast every night during high school, while others recalled such practices dating back to the 1990s.
Education scholar Cao Ying, using a pseudonym, highlighted that the CCP’s political education for students has evolved into a systematic approach, extending from classrooms, textbooks, and flag-raising ceremonies to students’ extracurricular time.
She said: “They aim to mold students into slaves serving the red regime, dictating every aspect of their lives. This textbook-style propaganda has moved from textbooks to the CCTV News Broadcast. Many citizens mistakenly think they are watching news, but in reality, they are subconsciously absorbing the indoctrination of an authoritarian regime.”
Reflecting on the early days of the “Reform and Opening Up” era, Cao Ying noted that many people began awakening, choosing to focus on international news during the CCTV News Broadcast. She pointed out that even international news from CCTV was manipulative, portraying disasters in the U.S. and highlighting people receiving unemployment benefits, suggesting even the U.S. President’s son queued for such aid. Cao added: “But if you think about it, does the child of a top CCP official need to apply for welfare? They live luxurious lives at the expense of the common people.”
CCTV News Broadcast serves as the primary television platform for the dissemination of political information by the CCP, covering Party leaders’ activities, central policies, and official narratives on domestic and international events.
Cao Ying elaborated that the Chinese Ministry of Education mandates preschools to instill in children emotions of “loving the Party and the country,” associating patriotism with loyalty to the CCP. This political education framework extends to textbooks, flag-raising ceremonies, and official news in primary and secondary schools. According to her, the schedule at Haikou City No. 4 Middle School is just a glimpse of this institutionalized system within schools.