Why Are Young People into Night Schools?

"Let's begin this class by discussing the foot positions of classical dance." With these words, Zheng Jingyuan, instructor of the "Chinese Dance Charm" course at the "Starlight" Civic Art Night School in Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan Province, started to move gracefully, with students following her lead, bending knees and extending legs.

“我们这节课先从古典舞的脚位开始讲起。”话音刚落，郑州“星光”市民艺术夜校“中国舞身韵”课程的老师郑静园就迈开了舞步，时而屈膝、时而勾腿，学员们也跟随着郑老师的动作开始了学习。

On the evening of April 16th, the Zhengzhou "Starlight" Civic Art Night School, hosted by the Zhengzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, and Tourism and organized by the Zhengzhou Cultural Center, officially commenced its classes. The first group of students embarked on their artistic journey here.

4月16日晚，由郑州市文化广电和旅游局主办、郑州文化馆承办的郑州“星光”市民艺术夜校正式开课，第一批学员在这里开启了自己的“艺”生活。

"In less than 10 minutes after the registration channel for this term's night school courses opened, 90% of the courses were filled. Among the registered students, over 50% are under 30, with the majority aged between 25and 27, and the youngest of 20 years old," said Zhou Lingdi, Director of the Training Department at the Zhengzhou Cultural Center. Zhou added that the night school adopts a model of "1 city main school + 7 branch schools + several teaching points," offering cultural and artistic services in various nearby locations, with courses covering fields such as dance, vocal music, voice acting, video editing, lifestyle arts, and intangible cultural heritage.

“本期夜校报名通道开通不足10分钟，90%的课程就被抢空。报名学员中，超过50%的为30以下的年轻人，25岁—27岁居多，最年轻的学员20岁。”郑州文化馆培训部主任周玲娣介绍，夜校采取“1个市总校+7个区分校+N个教学点”模式，提供多处就近文化艺术服务场所，其课程内容涉及舞蹈、声乐、配音艺术、视频剪辑、生活艺术、非遗等多个门类。

Night schools, originated during the industrial revolution to address the contradiction between work and study, serving as evening schools for workers to enhance their skills.

夜校并不是新事物，诞生于工业革命的夜校意在解决工学矛盾，是职工提高自身技能的晚间学校。

As early as the beginning of the 20th century, workers' night schools primarily focused on improving their cultural literacy and then inspiring consciousness among the working class. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, night schools have been instrumental in eradicating illiteracy and promoting universal basic education. Over time, their curriculum has expanded from simple cultural courses to political theory and technical skills training, enabling generation after generation of young people to enrich their knowledge and skills utilizing the time of evenings

早在20世纪初，各地早期党组织创办工人夜校，从提高工人文化程度着手，进而启发工人阶级思想觉悟。新中国成立以来，夜校视为消除文盲、促进全民基础教育普及的重要途径，其课程也从简单的文化课程扩展到政治理论和技术技能培训，让一代又一代年轻人利用晚间实现知识换代、技能升级。

Nowadays, night schools are back in vogue. Data from multiple internet platforms show that searches for "night schools" have increased by 980% year-on-year, with a 226% increase in related post reviews. On some social media applications, topics related to "youth night schools" constantly trend.

如今，夜校又火了。多个平台数据显示，今年以来，平台上“夜校”的搜索量同比增长980%，相关帖子评价数同比增长226%。在一些社交应用中， “青年 夜校”相关话题更是不断登上热搜。

Why do young people of this generation choose to attend night schools after work?

为啥这届年轻人在下班之余选择去上夜校？

Among the night courses, mobile video shooting and editing were most popular, with enrollment filling up within one minute. The enrolled students jokingly called themselves the "luckiest" for being enrolled. The instructor of the course is Zhao Yapeng, a member of the Henan Photographer Association and the director of the Light and Shadow Research Institute of Zhengzhou Jiugao Media. The students, who were attracted by the teacher and came eagerly, crowded in the classroom even before the class began.

当晚开课的课程里，手机视频拍摄剪辑是本期夜校最受欢迎的课程，报名一分钟内课程就被“秒完”，报上名的学员也调侃自己为夜校“最幸运的人”。课程的授课老师赵亚鹏是河南省摄影家协会会员、郑州九皋传媒光影研究所主任，慕名而来的学员们，在开课前已坐满了整间教室。

High-quality teaching staff is one reason that many students prefer night schools. Zhou explained that the Zhengzhou "Starlight" Civic Art Night School offers weekly classes for each course, lasting 1.5 hours each, with small class sizes to ensure quality teaching. Provincial and municipal experts are invited as artistic consultants, along with teachers from professional artistic troupes, art colleges, outstanding inheritors of traditional cultural heritage, and experienced teachers with rich teaching and artistic practice.

师资质量高是不少学员选择夜校的原因。周玲娣介绍，郑州“星光”市民艺术夜校每个课程每周一次，每次1.5小时，实行精品小班教学，邀请省、市专家作为艺术顾问，同时邀请省、市专业艺术院团、专业艺术院校、优秀传统文化非遗传承人和具有丰富教学经验和艺术创作实践的优秀教师作为授课老师，将品质落实到每个工作细节中。

Beyond the 8-hour workday, life becomes more vibrant. Today's night schools are no longer tied to traditional work. "Attending night school can add flavor to life beyond the daily grind," says Wang Lei, a student at the "Light-chaser Night School" in Luoyang City, Henan.

8小时之外，生活更精彩。如今的夜校不再与传统工作绑定。“上夜校可以去去‘班味儿’，也可以丰富一下自己的生活。”洛阳市“追光者夜校”学员王磊说。

At the "Light-chaser Night School" in Luoyang, the courses cater to the dual needs of fashion and practicality for young people, with classes in dance, music, painting, spiritual healing, handicrafts, life skills, new media,beauty makeup, and traditional Chinese performing arts.

既有为兴趣买单的古典舞、书法，也有为生活添色的打香篆、发簪制作……在洛阳市“追光者夜校”，课程设置基本兼顾了年轻人对时尚性和实用性的双重需求，共开设舞蹈类、音乐类、书画类、心灵疗愈类、手工技艺类、生活技能类、新媒体类、美妆类、曲艺类等9大类32项课程。

"Attending classes at night school allows me to break away from the identity of a daytime 'worker,' meet like-minded friends, and currently, all the courses are free, which is very friendly to young people," says Wang Lei.

王磊说：“来夜校上课让我从白天‘打工人’的身份脱离出来，还能认识兴趣相投的小伙伴，并且目前课程都是免费的，对年轻人来说非常友好。”

According to Fan Yechao, a young lecturer in the Department of Sociology at Minzu University of China, the recent resurgence of night schools reflects the people's growing desire for a better-off life and their strong demand for truth and beauty, driving the transformation of public cultural services.

在中央民族大学社会学系青年讲师范叶超看来，近来夜校的“翻红”，是人民日益增长的美好生活需要的传神写照，公众求真尚美的强烈需求，推动着社会公共文化服务积极转型。

Night schools provide specialized venues and professional equipment, creating a social space for urbanites with similar interests and hobbies, fostering new social circles. In Luoyang, public cultural spaces such as "Ding Book Cafe" "Cha Li" New-style Tea House, and "Humor Theater" have become the venues for night school classes. Inan effort to enhance the night school experience, innovative attempts have been made to integrate social forces into the public cultural service system.

夜校提供专门场地和专业设备，为相同兴趣爱好的都市人群开辟了一个社交空间，促进新的趣缘群体生成。在洛阳，“鼎·书咖”、“茶里”新派茶馆、“幽默剧场”等公共文化空间都成为夜校的课堂所在地，在打造更好夜校体验的同时，创新性尝试将社会力量引入公共文化服务体系。

"Today's night schools teach more leisure and practical skills, which are the broadening of life, the pursuit of choices, and the perception of happiness," said a representative from the Culture and Tourism Department of Henan Province. He hopes that night schools can provide high-quality public cultural services to more people in the era of lifelong learning, creating a platform for self-improvement and pursuit of beauty for more young people.

“现在的夜校教授的更多是休闲实践的技能，是对生活的拓宽、对选择的追求、对幸福的感悟。”省文化和旅游厅相关负责人表示，希望在全民终身学习的时代，通过夜校为更多民众提供优质的公共文化服务，为更多年轻人创造提升自我、追求美好的学艺平台。（中文来源/河南日报 记者/郭歌 编译/童林 英文审校/焦丹）