The Modern Chinese Education
Since
the formation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, China has become one
of the largest and most significant countries in the world. Through strong
leadership and a well laid out plan, China has become an economic force that is
influential internationally with the second largest gross domestic product (Jeffrey).
This rise to power can be attributed to China’s active strides towards
modernization, one of which is their educational system. The Chinese
educational system is advanced and creates large amounts of educated students.
Education in China is broken into four parts: Elementary, Middle, High, and
Post secondary schools.
The
first step in the Chinese educational system is elementary schools. Elementary
schooling is provided by the government and is free to attend by students.
First year of enrollment usually will take place around age six and lasts until
age eleven. The school day lasts about eight hours from seven in the morning
until three in the afternoon (Ganderton). As the students go through this primary
school, their main study is math and language with other side subjects.
A major
pride of the Chinese Education is the scores that students test in both math
and science. To obtain these high marks in these subjects, students start
studying mathematics young. During elementary school, “Chinese and mathematics
accounted for about 60 percent of the scheduled class time” (“Wikipedia”).
Other subjects taught are a secondary language, often English, introduced around
third grade. Also social science, natural science, physical education, and art
are covered. With so many subjects covered, there is a good amount of stress
put onto the children.
In the
elementary schools of china, it is regular for children to be required to take
exams. Success on these tests is crucial in the eyes of both parents and
teachers for the student to succeed in a very crowded and competitive place of
study. “A survey of 9 to 12-year-olds in eastern China found that more than 80
per cent worried "a lot" about exams, two-thirds feared punishment by
their teachers and almost three-quarters reported fearing physical punishment
from their parents.” (Foster). Children also are given out of school work to
help reinforce learning. This workload continues through the Chinese education
system onto the next level, middle school.
Middle
school in China begins around the age twelve and or at the grade seven.
Students stay in middle for three years graduating after ninth grade. The
duration of school is increased during middle school by two hours with the days
beginning at seven in the morning and lasting until five at night. Middle
school like elementary school is provided by the government for free for
students to attend. When transitioning from elementary to middle school much of
the classes and schedules stay the same.
When
looking at the time allotted towards various subjects in middle school, the
emphasis on math and science become clear.
Mathematics and science are given more time dedicated to allow for
deeper teaching. Other subjects covered are Chinese, secondary language, social
sciences, physical education, music, and drawing. These subjects covered help
the student with further educational study. “The primary objective of the
middle schools is to instill basic knowledge and to lay a foundation for more
advanced training” (Thomas and Linda 10). With more hours in each school day,
there is more material covered which also leads to faster and harder paced
learning which can cause student stress.
Middle
school’s faster pace leaves some students behind or not ready for the workload.
In many Chinese middle schools, out of class tutoring is promoted to help
students fully learn the content. Exams, homework, and outside of class study
are present at the middle school level. Teacher relationships with students are
present in that a teacher will know which of the students are struggling and
pressure them to get back on track. Teachers of middle school will try to get
the best out of their students. Moving from middle school to high school is the
first major difference between schools and student responsibility grows.
At the
age of fifteen or the grade of ten, students begin high school. High school
differs from middle and elementary in that it is a crucial time to decide one’s
future plans. If a student plans secondary education after high school, not
only will the student take the normal twelve hours from seven to seven six days
a week it is common to go to cram schools. “Parents have sent their children to
attend various training classes, so they "will not lose at the starting
line." Children have suffered much from the "good intentions" of
their parents and schools.” ("People's Daily" )
In high
school topics covered are “Aside from math and science, students take Chinese,
English, history, literature, music, art and physical education” (Mack) These
classes most the material on the Gaokao, the university entrance exam, but
students are promoted to out of school learning to prepare. Memorization is
expected from the students in the fields of math and science. Since all the
studying in high school leads to a large exam, stress levels are the highest at
this grade range.
Stress
levels peek during high school for Chinese students because there are the most
school hours, out of school work, and pressure to prepare for the Gaokao. Teachers
of high school students are strict and punctual of study time, put into the
words of a Chinese writer, “Teachers are a mixture of army training sergeants
and Amway salesmen. The former abuses, the latter promises. A teacher is not
only expected to teach, he also needs to motivate.” (Mu) A major stressor in
high school is that the Gaokao exam put the students against each other as the
test is competitive. It is normal for students to not help one another but to
avoid it.
After
high school, students who were not taking the path towards university will
enter the work force. For the students who had decided to go down the path
towards university, these students Gaokao exam scores will help to decide where
these students are attending the next year. University space and room is
limited with the lack of schools and teachers available meaning students of the
Gaokao exam are pushed in competition for entry. This trend is fading as
schools become more available, “Since reducing barriers to admission in 1999,
the number of students enrolled at universities in China has skyrocketed,
jumping from 1.08 million in 1998 to 2.75 million in 2002, and has steadily
increased since then.” (Beijing page 27)
Secondary
Education in China usually begins after high school or around the age of
eighteen. Enrollment of adults is also normal as the Gaokao is not limited to
students in high school and anyone can study outside of school or take private
lessons and take the Gaokao to try to enter secondary education. University
will usually last for four years or eight semesters until graduation. The
Education at university is specific to a field of study where students can
choose a major program to work towards. This type of university is not the only
type in China where a student may choose to attend a vocational or technical school
to get a more focused and hands on approach to learning about a specific field.
In
exiting high school 63 percent of students who attend secondary education will
later go on to attend university where the remaining percent will go onto
attend Technical and Vocational education and training (Guo and Stephen 17).
These Schools are very exact in the content covered to allow students to be
prepared for a specific work place. These schools do not cover as much material
as university, “ The length of schooling for higher vocational education is 2-3
years; if graduates of middle schools are enrolled, the length is five years.”
(XiaoHuan 67). Students who attend vocational schooling have the option for
skipping high school and directly entering certain vocational schools with certain
limitations.
Through
strict study, Chinese students learn a great deal through the Chinese education
system. Over the twelve years spent in school a Chinese pupil will go through
elementary, middle, and high school and be ready for post secondary education
if they chose so. Even though students may experience higher levels of stress
than those of other nations, they are ready for a modern society.
Bibliography
References without quotes have been paraphrased.
"Education
in the People's Republic of China." Wikipedia. N.p., 2 2012. Web.
10 Dec 2012.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_the_People's_Republic_of_China>.
"Primary
school student questions China's education system." People's Daily.
(2012): n. page. Print.
Beijing,
Zhu. "The gaokao: still life's most important test?" China Daily
23 11 2012, page 27. Print.
Foster,
Peter. "Third of Chinese primary school children suffer stress, study
finds ." Telegraph 19 1 2010, n. pag. Print.
Ganderton"How
many hours a day does China students attend school in China?" Answers.
N.p.. Web. 10 Dec 2012.
<http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_hours_a_day_does_China_students_attend_school_in_China>.
Guo,
Zhenyi, and Lamb Stephen. International Comparisons of China's Technical and
Vocational Education and Training System. 12. New York: Springer Science
and Buisness Media, 2010. 17. Print.
Jeffrey,
Hays. BASIC ECONOMIC INFORMATION ON CHINA: RANKINGS, GROWTH AND DODGY
STATISTICS. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec 2012.
<http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=376&catid=9>.
Mack,
Lauren. "School in China: Introduction to School and Education in
China." About. About.com Guide. Web. 10 Dec 2012. <http://chineseculture.about.com/od/thechineselanguage/a/Introduction-To-Education-In-China.htm>.
Mu,
Eric. " Confessions of a Chinese graduate." Danwei. N.p., 2
2011. Web. 10 Dec 2012.
<http://www.danwei.com/confessions-of-a-chinese-high-school-student/>.
Thomas,
Fingar, and A. Reed Linda. An Introduction to Education in the People's
Republic of China and U.S.- China Educational Exchanges. Revised.
Washington D.C.: National Acedemy of Sciences, 1982. 10. Print.
XiaoHuan,
Su. Education in China: Reforms and Innovations. 2002. 67. Print.
