As the spring semester begins, almost 300 million instructors and students are returning to school campuses across China.

The new school term is the first one after China downgraded its management of COVID-19 from Class A to Class B on January 8. 

Liu Peijun, deputy director of the Ministry of Education's Department of Physical, Health and Arts Education, told a news conference on February 9 that education departments have carried out on-campus policies for epidemic prevention and control.

The opening days of primary and secondary schools for the spring semester are mainly from February 1 to 15, while universities will start between February 1 and 28.

Faculty members and students at kindergartens, primary and middle schools are no longer required to show proof of nucleic acid tests when entering the campus, according to the guidelines released by the National Health Commission. 

Extra precautions remained in place in some parts of the country. For example, in a primary school in Beijing, where activities such as long-distance running have been converted to indoor exercises to protect children recovering from illness.

Some students' parents have received health monitoring forms from their schools, which require them to report their children's temperatures and other symptoms seven days prior to the new semester.

Education departments have set up more clinics, health rooms, and health stations at schools and stocked up anti-epidemic materials such as medications and masks.

Many schools have established a mechanism to keep track of the situation, including morning and afternoon check-ups, reporting of infectious diseases, and tracking of sickness absence.

Some schools are particularly concerned about the impact a prolonged shutdown may have taken on children's mental health and are trying to help students readjust to normal lessons as they return to school campuses.