Liaoning Normal University’s first-year WeChat group notification has recently circulated online. According to the notification, students who participate in the school’s blood donation activities and successfully donate blood can apply to have the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays combined for up to 13 days by submitting a screenshot as proof, while those who do not donate blood are required to attend classes according to the schedule.
Many netizens criticized the school for exchanging holidays for student blood donations. When reporters contacted the school for clarification, a lady who answered the phone mentioned that blood donation is voluntary for students but did not provide a clear explanation as to why blood donation is tied to taking leave.
Screenshots circulating around September 20th showed that a notification forwarded in a WeChat group of the 2024 class of the School of Fine Arts at Liaoning Normal University stated that students who successfully donated blood could upload a screenshot to apply for leave, combining the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, while those who did not donate blood had to attend classes as usual. The approval status of the leave request and whether the notification has been implemented remain unclear.
This year, the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday was from September 25th to 27th, and the National Day holiday lasted from October 1st to 7th. There were three working days between these two holidays on September 28th to 30th. If students who donated blood were granted these three days off, they could have a holiday from September 25th to October 7th, totaling 13 days.
A netizen from Shenyang, known as “Liu Erjie,” expressed concerns to reporters, suggesting that the school’s encouragement of blood donation through holidays might be related to higher-level blood donation promotion efforts. Some online users questioned whether the school relaxed leave policies to meet blood donation quotas, as it is usually difficult to apply for leave but easy for blood donors to get approval for a 13-day break. Another speculation was that the school and teachers might receive rewards for student blood donations. Although these claims reflect netizens’ suspicions, there is currently no evidence proving that Liaoning Normal University received rewards for the blood donation activity or set specific blood donation quotas.
Reporters reached out to the President’s Office of Liaoning Normal University for comments. A woman who answered the phone indicated that student blood donation is voluntary and not mandatory. However, she did not provide a clear explanation for why successful blood donors could apply for consecutive leave while non-donors had to attend classes as usual.
In 2016, the Academic Affairs Office of Liaoning Normal University issued a notice regarding adjusting the course schedule due to student blood donations, allowing each department to alter professional courses based on the blood donation schedule and the number of participating students. The document only covered teaching arrangements during blood donation activities and did not mention using blood donation as a condition to connect two holidays for taking leave.
According to the Blood Donation Law, China implements a voluntary blood donation system for healthy citizens. The viral notification instructing students to apply for additional leave by providing proof of successful blood donation does not mention whether students with health conditions unsuitable for donation or those choosing not to donate blood can request the same holiday extension.
A doctor named Wang from Guangzhou Nanfang Hospital shared that she has witnessed the critical shortage of clinical blood supply and heard about hospitals in Guangdong allowing interns to donate blood in exchange for holidays. She stated, “Many hospitals currently face blood shortages. When patients requiring blood transfusions arrive, they often ask family members to donate blood on the spot, providing the exact amount needed. With fewer people donating blood, I have also heard about some hospitals in Guangdong allowing interns to donate blood in exchange for holidays. However, hospitals are hesitant to ask fully qualified doctors to donate blood, and the incentives are much less, so who would want to be taken advantage of.”
The Epoch Times previously reported on September 21st that a hospital in Xinyi City, Guangdong Province, was exposed for allowing interns to donate blood in exchange for two days off. After interns raised concerns online, hospital staff tracked down the individuals who posted the complaints in the work group chat.
Until now, Liaoning Normal University has not clarified who issued the circulating notification, how many students have been granted extended leave, or why blood donation success is linked to leave approval.