Chinese University Puts CCTV in Dormitories to Encourage 'Good Study Habits'

A university in central China has reportedly been using
surveillance cameras to monitor virtually every inch of its 73-
hectare (181-acre) campus, including its classrooms and
dormitories.

The Wuchang University of Technology in the city of Wuhan
reportedly introduced the technology last year, paying 6 million
yuan (about £645,000) in order to keep closer tabs on its 12,500
undergraduates.

A 100-strong team of officials has been tasked with monitoring
the images as they are captured, according to a report on
cnhubei.com, a news website in Hubei province, where the
university is located.

Sun Yi, from the university’s business school, said the move was
designed to encourage “good study habits” among students.
Yu Chengqing, a professor, claimed the cameras had helped improve students’ behaviour by stamping out both smartphones and siestas.

“After the cameras were installed the study environment improved a great deal,” one unnamed employee was quoted as saying. “Phenomena such as playing with phones, napping or chatting during class have virtually disappeared.”

One student interviewed by the website, Yan Yue, said being placed under surveillance in the classroom had improved discipline and
helped motivate students.

However, speaking to a local newspaper, the Chutian Metropolis Daily, others expressed unease. One claimed many female students were “uncomfortable” that even the university’s halls of residence
were being subjected to surveillance and said this was a particular problem during the summer when students wore fewer clothes.

Internet users also reacted to the revelation with suspicion. “It’s a university, not a prison,” one critic wrote on Weibo, a Chinese site similar to Twitter. “Can I suggest installing surveillance cameras in the bedrooms of the university’s president and [Communist] party secretary?” said another.

A major surveillance boom is under way in China with authorities now using millions of closed circuit cameras to keep an eye on everything from traffic and sporting events to borders and government opponents.

Political dissidents have complained of waking up to find CCTV
cameras have been installed outside their homes in what they
believe is an attempt to spy on and intimidate them.

The world of academia has also been infiltrated by monitoring
technology, with several top universities deploying CCTV in
classrooms over the last five years.

In 2014 authorities in the south-western province of Guizhou
ordered universities to install monitoring systems in their
classrooms.

Officials claimed the move was designed to improve their ability
to “appraise” academics’ work but it was widely interpreted as
part of an attempt to monitor whether scholars were toeing the
Communist party line in class.

Liberal academics have faced growing scrutiny since Xi Jinping
became president in late 2012, with some even opting to seek
refuge overseas.

Xi, whose daughter studied at Harvard , has overseen a major
crackdown on free speech as well as an attempt to purge supposedly subversive foreign ideas from universities, which he has called China’s “ideological frontline”.

The Guardian