Spring break welcomed for some colleges

An announcement for a seven-day spring break from Sichuan Southwest Vocational College of Civil Aviation created online buzz, Beijing Youth Daily reported.

This year's spring break, slated for April 1 to 7, is themed "enjoying blossoms and finding love", the notice said.

According to the college, spring break aims to encourage students to leave campus and embrace nature and enjoy the beauty of spring and love.

"I was thrilled when I found out about spring break. My roommates and I immediately booked a flight to Lijiang of Yunnan province and plan to have some fun there for a few days," a freshman at the college told the newspaper.

Panmerit Education Group, which runs Sichuan Southwest Vocational College of Civil Aviation, said that spring break was launched in 2019. It has become a regular holiday for students in nine colleges operated by the education group, including Qingdao Vocational College of Aeronautical Science and Technology in Shandong and Vocational Flight College of Mianyang in Sichuan.

While expressing their envy for the holiday, many netizens are also worried that it might reduce the number of teaching hours. "The spring break does not affect the teaching hours," said Liu Ming, director of the brand publicity department of the education group.

"The spring break is created by adjusting some weekend breaks and the upcoming Qingming Festival holiday," Liu said. "Also, the spring break is not all play and no work."

Sichuan Southwest Vocational College of Civil Aviation said in the notice that students will be given assignments related to the spring break, which could be in form of travel logs, growth reports, handicrafts and videos, and the college will organize a presentation of students' work after the holiday.