City bans resumes for young children
By Liang Yiwen |
April 2, 2011, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
AS the elementary school admissions season begins, parents have been told that elaborate resumes and competition certificates won't help their child win a coveted place this year.
In an effort to relieve the academic burden on children, education authorities have banned local primary and middle schools from accepting Math Olympiad and other competitions certificates or resumes.
However, some schools say they now lack objective tools to evaluate students and some parents are worried that the new policy will encourage corruption in admissions.
Various contests and training in math, English, writing, music, chess and sports have become popular in the city since the cancellation of a uniform middle school entrance exam in 1998.
These have been used as an important reference index for some key schools to decide which students to enrol. Students spend weekends on after-class training preparing for various contests, and some students hold dozens of contest certificates.
"We need to put a stop to this," said Ni Minjing, a Shanghai Education Commission official in charge of elementary education.
Many parents welcomed the new policy as it reduces the burden on young children.
Wu Yiqun, a local father, doesn't send his five-year-old daughter to after-class studies, even though her kindergarten peers are busy learning piano, dance and kickboxing to win a place in a key primary school.
"I don't want to give her so much pressure during her childhood," he said.
But Wu has some doubt about whether the policy will be effective, considering the previous effort in canceling middle school exams resulted in booming business for social training institutes.
Other parents who had invested a lot in their child's training courses complained about the change on local parent forums.
A mother identified as "Jessica" announced dramatically: "The sudden change is a heaven-shaking thunder!"
Her child has been studying the Math Olympiad courses and other competition courses for years to prepare for the middle school admission next year.
"We don't have many resources. My kid can only work hard and count on himself," she said.
Jessica said it will now be easier for children from privileged backgrounds to win a place in top schools without the objective evaluation indexes. "The new policy will only benefit kids from a very rich or powerful family," she said.
Some schools said the certificates had been a useful evaluation tool.
"Certificates do reflect interest and abilities, in a way," said Sun Youli, principal of Shanghai Liying Primary School.
Ni said students will no doubt benefit from various learning, and the new policy will not stop those learning out of interest.
"Professional education experts can gauge children's abilities through interviews, rather then some paper certificates," said Ni.
In an effort to relieve the academic burden on children, education authorities have banned local primary and middle schools from accepting Math Olympiad and other competitions certificates or resumes.
However, some schools say they now lack objective tools to evaluate students and some parents are worried that the new policy will encourage corruption in admissions.
Various contests and training in math, English, writing, music, chess and sports have become popular in the city since the cancellation of a uniform middle school entrance exam in 1998.
These have been used as an important reference index for some key schools to decide which students to enrol. Students spend weekends on after-class training preparing for various contests, and some students hold dozens of contest certificates.
"We need to put a stop to this," said Ni Minjing, a Shanghai Education Commission official in charge of elementary education.
Many parents welcomed the new policy as it reduces the burden on young children.
Wu Yiqun, a local father, doesn't send his five-year-old daughter to after-class studies, even though her kindergarten peers are busy learning piano, dance and kickboxing to win a place in a key primary school.
"I don't want to give her so much pressure during her childhood," he said.
But Wu has some doubt about whether the policy will be effective, considering the previous effort in canceling middle school exams resulted in booming business for social training institutes.
Other parents who had invested a lot in their child's training courses complained about the change on local parent forums.
A mother identified as "Jessica" announced dramatically: "The sudden change is a heaven-shaking thunder!"
Her child has been studying the Math Olympiad courses and other competition courses for years to prepare for the middle school admission next year.
"We don't have many resources. My kid can only work hard and count on himself," she said.
Jessica said it will now be easier for children from privileged backgrounds to win a place in top schools without the objective evaluation indexes. "The new policy will only benefit kids from a very rich or powerful family," she said.
Some schools said the certificates had been a useful evaluation tool.
"Certificates do reflect interest and abilities, in a way," said Sun Youli, principal of Shanghai Liying Primary School.
Ni said students will no doubt benefit from various learning, and the new policy will not stop those learning out of interest.
"Professional education experts can gauge children's abilities through interviews, rather then some paper certificates," said Ni.
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