Schools to put bigger focus on life skills
Print Edition
In the local school education base, 12-year-old Duan Jiayang learned how to properly place mulch film over vegetable fields.
“I learned how to place the mulch film independently,” said Duan, a student of Tanglai Hui Primary School in Yinchuan, capital of northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. “It’s not easy.”
In China, many parents place a heavy focus on their children’s academic grades, while vocational skills have largely been ignored.
“Some parents do everything for their children,” said Yan Mei, an official with the primary school. “For instance, during the school’s general cleaning, some parents could be seen doing all the chores, and their children were just sitting around.”
With fewer and fewer chances to develop practical skills, many students lack basic skills needed in their daily lives, Yan added.
Since March last year, Chinese authorities have issued a variety of guidelines, requiring that colleges, middle schools and primary schools pay more attention to teaching students practical skills.
Following the rollout of these guidelines, Tanglai Hui Primary School launched an “agricultural class base” on one of its campuses. Students plant fruits and vegetables in the base that spans about 0.4 hectares.
In the days leading up to the May Day holiday, students of various grades in the school worked together to sow seeds, till the soil and place mulch film over the fields in the base, said school principal Yang Bo. They planted watermelon, spinach and corn, among other crops. May Day, also known as Labor Day, is observed on May 1 in China.
“We will ask students to be involved in the entire process of the plants’ growth,” Yang said. “Life skills education is not simply about working in the fields but also experiencing and observing life.”
The school hopes that students will develop an understanding of just how precious food is so that they will better appreciate the hardship their parents went through, Yang added.
On a campus of the No. 21 Primary School in Yinchuan, students were attending a special life skills class: making steamed buns in various shapes.
“I really love my life skills course. It’s my favorite class,” student Lian Yan said. “We can learn to make steamed buns and grow succulent plants.”
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
