olunteers from Shanghai International Studies University (SISU) offered more than 120 hours of free courses online to the children whose parents contributed to pandemic prevention in work since the Omicron outbreak in Shanghai.

The first batch of SISU volunteers is composed of postgraduate students. The content of courses they offered have ranged from homework guidance, language learning, to interest courses. Each class lasts less than one hour in length and more than 30 children aged 7 to 18 attended the courses.

Among the courses provided by SISU volunteers, the most special one was about sign language. Yang Tao majoring in law at SISU is the volunteer of this course and her student is Xiao Qian, a third-grade girl with hearing impairment.

Xiao Qian could even say "Mom and Dad, I love you." in sign language to her parents after learning the first class, which could not be expected before Yang’s teaching.

Another unique course provided by SISU volunteers was about comprehensive abilities. For example, Ke Zhichun, a student majoring in business English at SISU, offered a Rubik's cube course to develop students' hands-on ability, observation ability, and thinking capacity.

The project also benefited volunteers. Ye Shuhui, a student from School of Journalism and Communication at SISU, offered a course of Origami and Sudoku. “I gained experience in getting along with children and teaching remotely online after giving the courses this time.” she explained.

The Shanghai Committee of the Communist Youth League and universities in Shanghai collaborated to open these courses. According to Shanghai Communist Youth League, 2,385 volunteers from different colleges and universities have signed up to be course providers since the “Online Free Class” started recruiting. 1,160 children in total have attended these courses as learners.