Recently, several incidents of dormitory management issues at universities in China have sparked criticism, with the school dormitories being questioned for being too mechanical and lacking in humanity.
On November 25th, a female student at Shandong Zibo Vocational College posted on social media that she suffered from respiratory alkalosis (over-ventilation syndrome) in her dormitory and couldn’t breathe properly, so she called emergency services. However, the on-duty students prevented the male medical staff from entering the female dormitory.
The student involved stated that her roommate called the dormitory attendant for help, and the attendant praised the on-duty student for doing a good job, which made the medical staff smile. Eventually, with the help of her roommate, she was taken to the hospital by the medical staff. The doctor diagnosed her with respiratory alkalosis.
The student questioned the double standards of the dormitory attendants, pointing out that male maintenance workers were allowed to enter the female dormitories while medical staff were not, criticizing both her classmates and the attendant for blindly following rules without flexibility.
On the afternoon of the 26th, Shandong Zibo Vocational College issued a statement denying the allegation of not allowing access to the dormitory building but admitted that after the emergency services arrived, they were not allowed to directly enter the building to assist. Instead, the on-duty students had to contact the dormitory attendant before they were granted access.
Apart from this college, a similar incident occurred at Guangdong Ecological Engineering Vocational College recently. According to screenshots of the chat records shared by the student involved, she received news of a relative being critically ill in the early morning, decided to leave for home, and bought the earliest flight ticket at 7:30 am. However, at 5 am when she requested the dormitory attendant to open the door for her to leave, she was refused on the grounds of dormitory rules which stated that the doors were locked from 11 pm to 6:30 am, and students were not allowed to leave without permission except for health reasons or approved by the school’s administration. Despite pleading and even kneeling in front of the dormitory attendant, the attendant remained silent. As a result, the student missed her flight and didn’t get to say her final goodbye.
On November 10th, a sudden fire broke out at the Changqing Campus of Shandong University of Qilu Industrial Technology, forcing students to queue up for facial recognition at the gate to evacuate. Three similar incidents have occurred recently, drawing attention to dormitory management issues in schools.
Many netizens criticized the schools for their lack of humanity. They commented on the rigid and heartless attitude of the staff and questioned the purpose of creating a campus environment resembling a cage. Some expressed concerns about emergency situations and the schools’ lack of responsiveness.
The public is calling for more human-centered and compassionate handling of dormitory management issues in universities to ensure student safety and well-being.