As China marches towards a much-trumpeted harmonious society where the rich and the poor can live happily together, the Education Ministry is demanding a universal student accommodation arrangement based on academic classes rather than social ones.

The country's 500 or so institutions of higher education are required to arrange students' beds and dorms according to their class affiliation, said a recent ministry notice.

In other words, students from the same faculties should also share dorms, as this would help contribute to the construction of a new front for their "political and ideological education", the notice said.

It also sounded a halt to students being able to select their accommodation based on how much they can afford to pay. Currently, some schools provide dormitories at different prices.

"I have to admit there is the rich and poor gap among our students. But the school authority should never play it up by offering campus accommodation at different prices," a deputy administrative director surnamed Li with the Beijing-based Communication University of China, who's in charge of student management, told China Daily.

"Otherwise students from poor families might develop an inferiority complex," Li said.

"To build a harmonious campus, only moves intended to enhance the friendship among students with different economic status should be encouraged," he said.

Liu Sisi, a sophomore at the Communication University, showed her support to the dorm arrangement prescribed by the notice, but voiced her own opinion as well.

"The school should try to upgrade the overall condition of our dorms and provide all students with a better service at a low price.

"The dormitory I live in now was built in the 1950s and is badly equipped.

"I have to share with another five girls and pay 750 yuan a year. So I rent a one-bedroom condo off campus to better facilitate my studies and life," Liu said, frowning about the ban on students renting off-campus accommodation, first released in 2004 and repeated in the latest notice.

"The ban should never be a cut-off measure. Special situations should be considered.

"Many of my classmates live off campus in rented houses so they can concentrate more on their studies," Liu said.

(China Daily 07/10/2007 page3)