Sex and love, a compulsory course in Chinese college education

China's Ministry of Education has ordered all higher educational institutions to make 'sex and love' course compulsory from this year but not all students seemed excited as some said it is boring.

A psychological course, including sex and love, will be compulsory for university students starting from this September.

The ministry asked universities nationwide to develop a compulsory mental health course for students in all grades in June this year, a senior official of the ministry, told state- run 'China Daily' today.

"Such college courses have been developed for several years in fact, but they have been mainly optional courses," he said.

"The reason why the ministry decided to make the courses compulsory was that most university students are advised to seek help or seek psychological guidance because of the heavy pressure on them," he said.

The new compulsory course consists of seven parts, he said. Besides the sections about sex and love, it also involves curriculum to deal with other psychological problems such as how to deal with pressure and frustrations in life and studying.

The move however evoked mixed reactions. Gao Chang,18, a medical science freshman at Peking University, said such courses are very popular among new students.

"The psychological courses in our school, which introduce some sex and procreation knowledge are popular, but they have been optional up till now," she said.

Some students however think that there is no reason to make it compulsory.

Wang Kefei, a sophomore major in business administration at Peking University, who selected a psychological course in her first year, said it was boring and was no help to her.

Her boyfriend, He Fang, also a sophomore at the university, also said it was unnecessary to make it a compulsory course.

"Not all students need this kind of education. After all, we are university students, most of us know about sex and love," he said.

Qing Yun, a student at the University of International Business and Economics, said the university should not enforce this kind of course upon students.

"Some students may not be interested in the psychological education and know about sex and love, so this course won't be helpful to them," she said, adding that optional courses would probably be of more benefit than a compulsory one.