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January 14, 2015

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For overworked students, no relief in sight

A late December report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) confirmed what every Chinese student and parent knows — students in China are overloaded with homework. The city of Shanghai, in fact, came out top on the list, by far.

According to the survey by the European agency, middle school students in Shanghai spend an average of 13.8 hours per week on their homework, ranking them first among the 65 countries and regions.

More than 80,000 students, aged 15, participated in the survey. Russia ranked a distant second (9.7 hours per week), while Singapore was the third at 9.4 hours. The only other Asian region in the top 10 was Kazakhstan (8.8 hours, No. 4).

Other countries and cities in Asia included Hong Kong (6 hours), Macau (5.9), Vietnam (5.8), Thailand (5.6), Taipei (5.3), Indonesia (4.9), Malaysia (4.8), Qatar (4.3), Japan (3.8) and South Korea (2.9).

Some in Shanghai questioned the survey results, saying it actually understated the reality.

“Are you kidding? Does it mean that middle school students only spend two hours each day doing their homework?” says Rebecca Wu, whose 15-year-old son studies at Hua Yu Middle School in Shanghai. “The fact is that my son does his homework every day for four hours! He hardly has his spare time for television or sports during workdays. Even on weekends, he has a fully occupied schedule to attend extra classes for mathematics, physics and Chinese.

“I know this is not the right way for a child, so he squeezes two hours on Saturday morning for swimming. As a mother, I feel so sorry for him as he sacrifices many of his personal interests to study. But that’s the harsh reality, otherwise he can’t manage himself to enter the top high schools, which give him an easy life path in the future.”

Criticism of the increased workload on the shoulders of young students in Shanghai, and elsewhere in China, is nothing new. Many Chinese people still remember the shocking photo released in May 2012, right before the college entrance examination, in which a whole class of senior students at Hubei Province’s Xiaogan No. 1 Middle School were treated with intravenous nutritious fluids to prepare for the “notorious” national exam.

Although the media and various experts have attacked the current education system, there is little “ray of hope” to change the situation, despite a few efforts.

For the past years, the Shanghai government and the local education department have issued several policies to ease the tension. In 2012, Shanghai started to widely promote “zero beginning” education to help curb extracurricular classes; in 2013, the Shanghai education authority required local primary schools to reduce pupils’ written homework; last year, the contents of the Chinese language textbook for grade-1 students was made easier.

However, like throwing a tiny stone into the vast sea, nothing really changes significantly. Students continue to get fatigued in dealing with piles of homework and busy shuttling between various after-school training classes.

“This is a deadlock that demands true wisdom from the government,” says Peter Fan, a Shanghai lawyer in his 40s. “The limited resources are a key reason, plus the huge population. Of course, here I mean the good educational resources. In my eyes, scores, at least, are fair. But for my daughter, I don’t want to let her stay in such an ‘insane’ system. I already discussed with my wife and decided to send her to the United States for middle school.”

But the daunting overseas educational fees are not affordable for most Chinese families. In recent years, some Chinese emigrated to New Zealand, Australia and America for the sake of their children, but life studying overseas may not be as relaxed as they had expected.

“My daughter is now studying at a private high school in the US,” says Zhang Lixing, a local journalist. “Do you know what she is assigned to read? She is reading the original English novel of Joseph Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’ and Albert Camus’ ‘The Stranger.’ So if parents do have expectations toward the future of their child, the kids just can’t be relaxed.”

His words are echoed by Wu Ying, mother of a 16-year-old girl at a Shanghai middle school. “In my eyes, there is no way to escape the heavy workload for the Chinese children whether you are at home or abroad,” Wu says.

“There is something deep in our blood — comparison. Most Chinese parents want their children to be better than others in every aspect, such as academic scores, job, social status or wealth.”

That might explain the popularity of after-school training centers. Many parents spend several thousand yuan per month on such classes.

Xu Wenwen, a 15-year-old student at a local middle school, asked his mother to register him for the physics and chemistry classes every weekend.

“The reason is simple: Our teacher usually gives us the tests on a base that everyone already grasps. If I didn’t attend the training classes in advance, then I definitely would lag behind,” he says.

Xu confesses that although he feels tired because of the heavy schedule, he understands the situation. “The competition is ferocious, and I have to try my best for the sake of myself and my parents.”

Han Lei, a junior middle school teacher, isn’t surprised by the OECD report.

“That’s the true condition among today’s middle school students,” she says. “But if this is the harsh reality, then we have to face it and accept it. I often tell my students that this is the tough experience in life. Once you conquer it, it will be a great treasure. It is a test of your patience and endurance.”

But not every teenager can handle such tough experience.

“My son ranked among the top three at primary school and was admitted to the best middle school in our district,” says Zhu Xiaokun, an HR manager at an international enterprise. “But soon he got frustrated, because no matter how hard he tried, he just remained at the average in the class. As a mother, I could sense his anxiety and pain. Now I am thinking of transferring him to an average school, which could ease his pressure.”

Some say that today’s Chinese teenagers receive the maximum pressure that their age can afford, both physically and mentally, and some of them need to find an outlet to release it.

Feng Yalan, a local psychological consultant, says she has treated too many teenagers addicted in computer games.

“I always remind the parents not to transfer their pressures and eagerness to their children, who cannot handle it at their age,” she says. “Let’s do a role exchange. If you wake up at 6am every morning and arrive home at 6pm every evening and do the homework till 10pm, what do you feel? Be an understanding parent.

“Although it is impossible to change the current condition, we could change a bit. Don’t squeeze our children to the corner of their life. After all, they are too young to face it. I always believe that a happy heart and a healthy body are the right things for a bright future,” Feng adds.




 

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