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Hangzhou's holiday experiment suits students and parents

By Liang Yiwen | May 26, 2009, Tuesday | Print Edition

FIVE years ago the Hangzhou education authorities tried a radical experiment and gave students two additional vacation breaks. It was the first and so far the only city in the country that offered students four breaks annually. Liang Yiwen examines how it works.

As well as the winter and summer vacations, students in Hangzhou, the capital city of the Zhejiang Province, also have a spring break and an autumn break every year.

Chinese school students generally have a one-month winter holiday to celebrate the Lunar New Year and a two-month holiday in summer to escape the heat. The two holidays separate the spring and autumn semesters.

But five years ago the Hangzhou education authorities gave students two additional breaks. It was the first and so far the only city in the country that offered students four breaks annually.

The special holiday system aroused a good deal of debate across the county. Students in other cities really envy Hangzhou children, while their parents are worried that their children will score low marks in national exams because of fewer lessons. Some teachers publicly doubted the legitimacy of the extra holidays.

Five years along, the additional breaks have proven to be a success and have been gradually accepted by parents and society. The innovative vacation system may bring some new thinking to the current education reforms.

"The spring and autumn breaks have become a natural routine in Hangzhou," Huang Jianmin, director of High-school Department at the Hangzhou Education Bureau, told the Xinmin Evening News.

"The breaks also comply with laws of nature," Huang was quoted as saying. "Just as the Chinese saying goes, people feel sleepy more readily in spring and tired in autumn."

The reform was intended to decrease the workload of students in primary and secondary schools and improve their health. Students are encouraged to go out on the fine spring and autumn days instead of sitting in classrooms.

The vacation reform was proposed in March 2004 after collecting opinions from parents and teachers. According to the holiday regulations proposed by the Hangzhou Education Bureau, the spring break is usually set from the end of April to the beginning of May, while the autumn break is usually from the end of October to the beginning of November. Each lasts a week. The last spring break happened to coincide with the May Day holiday, so students had 10 days off.

"Chinese education regulations have no specific rules for the timing or length of holidays for students. Local education authorities have the right to adjust the syllabus and vacation plans for primary and secondary schools as long as they do not disturb the education master plan," said Qian Pinxian, Party secretary of the College of Laws and Regulations at East China Normal University.

The reform was not accepted by society immediately, but took some time. Many parents were worried that their children would spend more time watching television and playing video games when they stayed home alone. Some even worry about the safety of their children without parental guidance on holidays.

"No death or injury accidents have happened because of the spring or autumn breaks in the past five years," Huang told the newspaper.

About 30 to 40 percent parents still have reservations about the vacations, but they generally show an understanding now and are willing to let their children have more leisure and happiness in childhood and adolescence.

"I'd like to take my daughter traveling in the breaks to enrich her mind," a parent identified as "free cloud," said in a popular online forum.

"Many Hangzhou parents take their annual leave from their companies during the spring and autumn breaks to travel with their children," Huang said.

Avoiding the rush periods in the national holidays, parents and students have found fewer visitors at sightseeing spots during the vacations and the cost of travel can be reduced.

Some people were worried that their children might be forced to take extra courses in social training institutions during the additional holidays. But the education authorities said that each school had its own schedule for the vacation, so it was impossible for social institutions to launch major courses for students at any one time.

Meanwhile, schools offer a range of activities for students to enjoy. Last year, students were entitled to six coupons, each of which would allow them to visit six of 71 museums, historical resorts and famous people's homes. The fees were covered by local government.

"The holidays are also an educational way for the students to have more social interaction," said Wang Que, an official with the Shanghai Education Commission. "There is still space in the curriculum for Shanghai students for short spring and autumn breaks."

But education researchers suggest that if the four-break system is adopted in Shanghai, the additional holidays should be arranged by the Shanghai Education Commission instead of district education bureaus to keep the work flow smooth.

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