In a recent event at the Weining Vocational and Technical School in Bijie City, Guizhou Province, a large-scale student protest erupted. The students were dissatisfied with the school’s ban on bringing mobile phones, so the dormitory students collectively turned on their phones and waved them, with some even damaging dormitory facilities. A similar protest occurred two weeks ago at the Jiangnan Polytechnic School of Advanced Technical Professionals in Guangdong.
On the night of September 7th, some students at the Weining Vocational and Technical School initiated a shouting protest in the dormitory, emotions escalated as books and desks were thrown out of the windows, and miscellaneous items were set on fire. The glow of fire illuminated the outer walls of the dormitory, with students’ shouts and the sound of breaking glass echoing. The students collectively shouted “refund” and pounded on the doors in frustration.
Online videos showed students inside the dormitory shouting loudly and waving their phones, with police cars passing by on the streets. The next day, a reporter managed to locate a student who revealed that the school’s phone ban had crossed a line for many students: “Many of us come from rural areas, and we mainly rely on phones to communicate with our families. Suddenly, the school decided to confiscate phones, not return them, and even impose penalties. Everyone feels very unfair about it.”
The anonymous student mentioned that many classmates that night raised their lit phones and waved them outside the windows. A video on the social media platform “Kuaishou” showed students throwing desks and chairs out of the dormitory. He said, “We feel like we paid the fees but lost the basic freedom of communication.”
Following the incident, a large number of police forces entered the school and extinguished the fires on the campus. Some students mentioned that after the police communicated with the school, they were asked to rest as soon as possible. Another student privately messaged the reporter, saying, “Today the school is investigating who instigated this, and warning us that whoever causes trouble again will be expelled directly.”
A parent named Mr. Li, claiming to be a student’s parent, stated that the students’ protest was not entirely about phones but an explosion of long-standing grievances. “The school provides poor meals, inadequate dormitory conditions, and teachers’ teaching is perfunctory. Students pay tuition and accommodation fees but do not receive the treatment they deserve. The phone ban was just a catalyst.”
Many parents expressed concern about their children’s situation. Another parent, Mr. Wang, said that his child often complained of feeling suppressed at school, and he initially thought it was just teenage emotions that he overlooked. “This incident made me realize that the children are actually very vulnerable; they need communication and respect. Simply suppressing them will only backfire.”
An academic expert, Liu Fang (pseudonym), who has been researching vocational education at Guizhou Minzu University, pointed out that vocational school students mostly come from average economic backgrounds and lack social resources. Strict campus management without explanations and communication can easily lead to conflict. She told the reporter, “Today, the phone is not just an entertainment tool but also a channel for learning and communication. Completely banning it is a simple and crude approach that doesn’t match reality.”
When the office of the Weining Vocational and Technical School was called, a staff member who answered the phone stated, “There is no problem now; everything at the school is normal.”
According to records, the Weining Vocational School is officially known as the “Weining Yi, Hui, and Miao Autonomous County Vocational School” and is a major public vocational institution in the area. The school’s predecessor can be traced back to the establishment of the Weining Vocational Technical High School in 1958, which was merged in 2013 with the Weining Vocational Technical High School, Caohai Art School, and the County Health Vocational Training Center to form the current Weining Vocational School. As of 2025, the school has approximately 5,090 students studying disciplines such as nursing, early childhood education, computer science, automotive repair, mechanical manufacturing, and tourism services, with internship cooperation established with some enterprises.
Simultaneously with the incident at the Weining Vocational School, information circulated on social platforms X and Instagram regarding a protest by students at the Jiangnan Polytechnic School of Advanced Technical Professionals in Guangdong. Posts stated that the school in Jianggao Town, Baiyun District, Guangzhou, promoted dormitories as “6-person rooms,” while they were actually “12-person rooms,” with only one communal toilet on each floor. Related videos and texts sparked criticism from students’ parents and internet users. However, no official department or mainstream media has confirmed the protest at the school, and the school has not responded to the allegations.
Currently, these two incidents continue to fuel discussions online, with society at large focusing on the management practices and student conditions at vocational and technical schools on the mainland.