Facts and Innovation of Education in China

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Facts and Innovation of Education in China

I lived in a city and had a standard high school student life as others. I got up at 7:00 in the morning and tried not to be late for the morning class which is half an hour later. Then I had 9 classes till 5:00 in the afternoon, during which I could eat my one-hour-long lunch. Even at night and on weekends, I had to deal with tons of homework and tests, or locked myself in the classroom.

It sounds crazy to have only one day per week free without classes or to stay at school more than at home, but millions of Chinese students are experiencing both situations. One research reveals that nearly 7 out of 10 students in Beijing have to attend classes during winter breaks. Another says that 67% of high school students have less than 7 hours sleep per day and about 42% students have less than half an hour free time per day. Half of them have no free time at all.

For most high students in China, all the hard work aims at one thing, and the thing is called the National College Entrance Examination. In fact, it’s an exam which lasts 2 or 3 days depending individually on provinces, takes place nationally and synchronously, and the final score of the exam determines which college a student may get in. Although students fill out forms indicating several colleges they would like to apply to, the fact is they merely have one chance basically, which is the first choice. And once a student fails to get in his first choice, his chances of getting into other colleges are enormously decreased because the spaces have been filled already.

Mostly, the Entrance Examination is the only way a college evaluates and admits a student. And in China, a good college degree more or less guarantees a promisi...

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...a crushing fairer education environment.

Work Cited:

Jiajie Li, “Yang Zhenning jiaoshou bijiao zhongmei jiaoyu” (Prof. Zhenning Yang compares education between China and the US), Guangming Daily, June 18, 2004.

Maolin Ye, “Dui Zhongguo fazhan mingban jiaoyu de sikao” (Thoughts about developing private schools in China); available from http://edu.tom.com/1050/20031030-1455.html; Internet; accessed December 1, 2004.

Chenxin Zhou, Peng Jiang, “Zhongguo shisheng pubian renwei gaozhong kecheng guoduo guonan” (Students and teachers consider high schoolwork load too much and too hard); available from http://www.wendu.com/Training/11611.html; Internet; accessed December 1, 2004.

Guangcheng Liang, “Jiaoyu buneng mangmu xihua” (Do not westernize education blindly); available from http://maths.guangztr.edu.cn/kcgg/bnmmxh.htm; Internet; accessed December 1, 2004.

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