Since all primary and secondary schools in the Chinese capital were officially closed on April 24 to prevent the spread of the virus, tele-courses and on-line classes have taken the place of normal lessons.

"I've been learning through an on-line school website which offers voice resolution so I can hear the teacher giving the course," says Xiao Xiao, a 14-year-old pupil at Beijing No.5 Middle School.

She is referring to Jinghua Education. Between April 18 to June 30, Jinghua has been doing its bit to help in the SARS fight by providing all its courses free to high school students. The demand has been considerable with over 314,000 visits via its website www.jinghua.net.

"To cope with increasing demand, we've invested an additional 277,000 yuan (US$33,000) in more servers and expanded band width and other facilities," says Helen Yang, a public relations officer with Jinghua Education.

Jinghua is not the only education facility to offer free online courses.

The Beijing Education Commission has been collaborating with eight other major network schools to open their resources and help students compelled to study at home. Over 230 primary and high school teachers, working on a rotating basis, are available to answer students questions online.

The Middle School Affiliated to Peking University has gone a step further than the opening of its courses to local students. Through an arrangement with Gosun Communication students were able to get connected free of charge between May 12 to 31.

"The spread of SARS has greatly affected the normal routine for teaching and learning. Online courses are the safest and most efficient way of learning at this moment of unexpected emergency and can help us reduce the impact to a minimum while we get through this difficult period," says Kang Jian, president of the school, which has injected over 2 million yuan (US$240,000) in technical support.

"As a renowned school in Beijing, we are obliged to shoulder more social responsibility and share our quality online resources with more students through the Internet," he added.

Online courses have been well received by students, especially those who are about to enter high school or college. Many parents who had previously shunned computers at home for fear their children might get engrossed with online games or the myriad of other problem material on the Web, have opted to buy PCs so that their children can keep up with their studies.

"Online courses are almost the same as attending classes at school, except that I cannot play with my classmates. But it gives a freedom that is otherwise not possible.

"You can choose whatever course you want to listen to, chat with classmates, and discuss questions on BBS. The online question & answer session is especially illuminating, with everyone presenting his or her views on a question board," says Zhao Yu, a student from No 25 Middle School.

According to Liang Wei, director of the Beijing Research Center for Basic Education, about 500,000 of Beijing's 1.7 million primary and high school students have access to online courses at home.

Every day, teachers of 13 subjects answer questions on line, while education websites receive millions of hits daily. In addition, more than 1 million students in Beijing can receive tele-courses on TV or by radio, not to mention those asking for teachers' help by telephone or through voice mails.

"It is beyond anyone's expectation that online education in China has been advanced in such a manner, but at least it helps students across the country to be acquainted with it. In this sense, its significance goes far beyond maintaining students studies," says Jin Linbo, a research fellow with the Trade and Economic Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The Beijing Education Commission has pledged that it will maintain the momentum for the new teaching mode of "classes on air" during summer and winter holidays.

(China Daily June 4, 2003)