Are schoolchildren allowed to sleep in class in China? February 13th, 2017
This is not the first year that I have heard that today’s Russian schoolchild is terribly overloaded with the school schedule and the amount of knowledge that is provided for in the school curriculum. And now the school curriculum is being simplified, school subjects are being removed, and even the second shift in our region has been canceled - otherwise it is difficult for a schoolchild to study during the second shift.
Remembering my school years with second shifts and 6 lessons a day (the class was really physics and mathematics, but not that much), I somehow don’t remember the terrible workload, even taking into account the internationally recognized strong Soviet curriculum. In our country, everything will be reduced to insanity, so they canceled the second shifts - but they transport schoolchildren and teachers by bus to other schools (because there are not enough classes). So we've started simplifying the program and the burden on the child - how far will it go?
Oh yes. So why do Chinese schoolchildren sleep on their desks? Maybe they are so lazy?
Now we'll find out...
Photo 2. 
For most students, sleeping in class results in a severe reprimand. But for these Chinese children, this behavior is not only allowed - it is encouraged.
First grade students primary school No. 1 in Guoxing (Shaanxi Province of western China) live in neighboring Xi'an. The school building is too small to accommodate lounges, and most students live too far away to go home for lunch, so they are forced to take their midday naps at their desks.
Photo 3. 
This tradition is known as wujiao and is familiar to students in all schools in mainland China and Taiwan - taking a half-hour nap immediately after lunch. Although this habit may seem strange to Europeans, teachers insist that the children are very happy with their “sleeping” situation.
Although some of them bring blankets and pillows, most simply lie down on the tables with their clothes and even shoes on.
Photo 4. 
Says the school principal: “They don't have time to go home and there's no room for beds at school, so they sleep on tables. They feel quite comfortable - and there is no chance that anyone will be late for the start of the next lesson."
Photo 5. 
“We learn while we are alive. And we will study until we die” - the slogan of a Chinese high school student is not at all a figure of speech. In a country of almost one and a half billion people, higher education is one of the few, if not the only, social elevator for those who want something more than a daily bowl of rice. True, you need to pay such a high price for it, which probably only the most outstanding children in the world are capable of. And another five million Chinese. This is the number of places allocated annually for new first-year students. Not as much, by the way, as it might seem at first glance. Some time ago, Russian Minister of Education Dmitry Livanov complained that almost 75% of school graduates in Russia become students. So, in China this figure is almost four times lower.
For some universities, the competition can be up to 200 people per place. Moreover, not only school graduates of the current year apply for admission
Traditionally, those who fail the exam continue to try again and again, proving that perseverance is also one of the Chinese virtues. Sometimes veteran applicants really amaze the imagination: a few years ago, the entire Chinese press wrote about 81-year-old Wang Xia, for whom luck smiled only on his tenth anniversary.
There's no time to breathe
The typical daily routine of a Chinese schoolchild is monstrous, both from the point of view of sanitary standards and simply from a human perspective. Get up no later than five in the morning and immediately study independently. From eight in the morning until four in the afternoon there are lessons, and then from four until nine in the evening there are additional classes. Finally, at nine in the evening you can have dinner... and continue studying until fatigue and sleep completely knock you off your feet. Theoretically, there are two days off, but using both is bad taste. Neither teachers nor parents will understand such “sloppiness.”
Sunday morning is the permissible maximum rest for a decent schoolchild, but if you fill it with useful educational activities, this will cause the unconditional approval of family and neighbors. Chinese wisdom says: while you are catching your breath, you have already been pushed back several steps
Summer holidays often do not exceed ten days, and then part of them is devoted to the necessary self-preparation. A common summer scene in Singapore shopping malls with good air conditioners: hundreds of people who are completely uninterested in shopping, but are poring over textbooks and notebooks. As a rule, these are high school students who are preparing for the main exams of their lives - the Gaokao.
The most important two hours in life
Gaokao is the all-China university entrance examination. Every year in early June, for three days, all graduates of the country test not only their erudition and intellect, but also their psychological and physical endurance.
Gaokao includes both compulsory subjects (Chinese language, literature and mathematics), each of which is allocated two hours, and elective subjects: foreign languages and the so-called complex sciences. Here the test timing is reduced by half an hour.
If the student does not complete the test within the allotted time, the exam is considered failed. If a student allows himself to talk during the test, which for obvious reasons happens extremely rarely, the result will also be canceled. But cheating threatens with a lifelong ban on taking the Gaokao. It is clear that under such conditions the question of crib sheets does not even arise.
Comparison of the Unified State Exam and Gaokao is possible only formally. Both are landmark exams that open (or close, in case of failure) the doors to the world of higher education. However, the degree of nervousness and pressure on students in China is simply not comparable with Russian realities. A Chinese teenager is completely crushed by the expectations placed on him by his family and friends. Failure in an exam is not just an academic nuisance, but something comparable to a betrayal of a family, whose moral debt he must repay throughout his life. However, motivation built on feelings of guilt and duty, having at its disposal only a very tangible stick and virtual carrots in the “beautiful far away”, does not always bring the correct results.
The main thing is the result
Enormous amounts of information that need to be processed, in addition to the obvious benefits for mastering the subject, lead to strict prioritization, often to the detriment of quality. Western teachers working with Chinese students say that the terrible workload in most cases does not allow students to concentrate, think through and analyze tons of reading and learning. “If I ask their opinion about a book, I often see only bewilderment in their eyes,” American teacher Renee Forseth Williams writes in her blog, “but everything changes if I clarify that there will be a test based on the book. Some people say that – if it’s not for a test, I’m not interested.” In fact, only what is subject to testing is memorized. On the one hand, this allows you to really fully master the program. On the other hand, it completely excludes creativity, for which there simply is not enough time or energy.
Only for our own
Despite all the medieval cruelty of the Chinese educational model, attempts to instill local experience on European and American soil are made with enviable regularity. However, they are not particularly popular or successful. And yet, from time to time, the teaching and parent community explodes with emotion, reacting to books about “other” educational concepts. “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother” is the apt title of a provocative work by Yale University professor Amy Chua. The author talks in detail about the strategy for teaching music to his daughters, already on the first page listing a strict set of rules required to achieve success. Actually, in fact, this is a set of prohibitions. Girls are not allowed to participate in school festivals and theatrical productions, watch TV, choose classes at their own discretion, receive any grades other than A's, or even play for others. musical instruments, except those that their mother chose for them. As one would expect, such a technique ultimately leads to terrible conflicts in the family and nervous breakdowns. Although girls do manage to achieve significant success in music.
sources
Education is different. There is no end in sight to the long-running dispute in Russia between Russian teachers and the Ministry of Education about the usefulness of ongoing educational reforms in our schools. It turns out that we are not the only ones. The Chinese are also not entirely satisfied with their secondary education system. Therefore, the intended tendency to send children to study “over the hill”, as in Russia, is very popular. Chinese schoolchildren constantly complain about the terrible amount of homework, a lot of 压力 (stress), lack of free time, they want to avoid the gaokao (高考, final exam, analogous to our Unified State Exam) and continue their education in high schools in “overseas” schools. After asking Chinese schoolchildren, as well as teachers, I got a complete picture of the system in which children are educated in Beijing and other cities, as well as what trend Chinese education is currently moving in and how much effort children spend to get the coveted certificate.
So, I won’t start right away with the worst. Let me start with the fact that Chinese school is divided into three levels - primary (小学，6 years), middle (初中, 6 years) and senior (高中, 3 years). The “first time in first grade” occurs at the age of 6–7 years. The state pays only for the first nine years of education; for the last three years, parents pay from their own wallets, although some lucky students can count on a subsidy or scholarship.
As one Chinese acquaintance told me, the whole life of a Chinese is an eternal passing of exams, and they begin precisely at school. One of the biggest challenges falls on an unsuspecting primary school student at the end of sixth grade. And then it begins... the search begins for ways to get into high school, and always a good one or the best one! It’s not for nothing that for six years in elementary school they listened to the teacher and unquestioningly carried out his assignments!
It should be clarified that Chinese elementary, middle and high schools are not one school, as in Russia. They are wearing different names and are different educational institutions. Although some schools include all three levels.
So, the race of parents (first of all) begins precisely at the end of primary school. They are “on duty” at the doors of the secondary school they want for their child, “catch” students who have already entered it, and “interrogate” them on the subject of “how he got into it” and “the content of the admission exam.” Entrance exam. They explained to me that he was secret. This is one of the ways to enter school. Secret because it is impossible to prepare for it in advance, because the content is unknown. The exam can take different shapes– may be in the form of a test, or maybe in the form of an interview. If it is in the form of a test, then it is usually mathematics, the tasks are given at a level higher than what was studied before, so money for a tutor must be prepared in advance.
The next path to the desired school is the so-called 推优, or recommendation for admission. Recommend by teachers, choose a computer. O great lottery drum of good luck! Only one in ten applicants can be admitted to the school in this way. There are also loopholes, but this is for those who do not skimp - after all, the future of children, how can you trust a soulless machine! So, next are the parents’ connections. Everything is clear here. Another way to get into the coveted school is automatic enrollment due to being close to home, 直升. To be enrolled, you must have an apartment near the school and have lived in it for more than three years. Parents participating in the “race” buy apartments near a prestigious school long before the child is born, caring about his future. This apartment is called 学区房. Well, the latest way to continue education - and every graduate of primary school is obliged to continue education in secondary school - 派位, that is, placing a student in any school where there is a place, usually far from the best according to the system “Oh almighty computer, decide my fate " Strange but true.
So, we have found a way to get into a good school, but this does not mean at all that you can relax and not think about anything (until university). Middle and then high schools involve almost round-the-clock studying, a lot of homework and a minimum of free time, since in addition to homework and lessons, children attend clubs based on the interests of *parents*, for example, they learn English with foreign teachers, or dance they engage in sports or something else designed to make a child a highly organized, competitive person, since we are talking about China - a country where the strongest survive due to the large number of people living in it. Parents understand this.
The schedule in an ordinary ordinary school is “Spartan” in nature - at least 8-9 lessons per day: five lessons in the first half of the day, four lessons in the second. Every day at the last lesson test a.k.a. test. I am writing this about the last year of high school, where children are prepared for the exam in high school. Big drawback of such tests, according to one of the schoolchildren whom I interviewed, is that in fact, when performing tests “automatically,” the student uses logic, rather than actually acquired knowledge. “Cramming” of pure water. There is almost no healthy interest in learning here. However, students maintain their enthusiasm for learning, fueled by teachers, and are optimistic about everything. According to one student (Shang Di Experimental Middle School, Part of 101 School, Beijing), friendship between classmates grows stronger as exams and homework increase. “Together we fight in exams!” can be considered the motto of high school students, because it is here that the strongest friendships are born, which do not weaken even after graduation.
Classes at school start around 8 am, in different schools: somewhere at 7:30, somewhere at 8:30. Each lesson lasts 40 minutes, there is a break between lessons, and after the second lesson there is a long break for physical education. Physical education lessons are held every day. And this is understandable, because when there is a lot of mental stress, sports are simply necessary. However, not all schools have such a policy; some schools do not include sports in the school system. After physical education lessons, already pretty hungry children run to the dining room to spend 5-10 minutes “gobbling up” lunch, and then quickly go to class. This is followed by the “midday nap,” where students, folding their arms and lying “comfortably” on their desks, must pretend to be asleep. This “sleep” lasts an hour to 1:20. They “fall asleep” when the bell rings and “wake up” when they ring. Regarding appearance, quite strict rules have also been introduced, which everyone adheres to: short or ponytailed hair and a uniform school uniform for all students, usually a tracksuit. Each school has different uniform colors.
Every morning, a person is appointed to raise the national flag as an act of patriotism, which is very commendable. And schoolchildren also write essays on the now popular topic “中国梦” (“Chinese dream”, analogue of “ American dream", Chinese version). Weekends are spent doing homework. Vacations in summer and winter. Summer - from mid or early July to the end of August, and winter - from mid-January to mid-February. And every holiday, schoolchildren “swim” in a sea of homework. Caring parents manage to send some schoolchildren abroad to study for two weeks to improve their English, or they spend time traveling around China, which is also not bad, but it doesn’t last long - you still need to come back and have time to do your homework!
Things are a little different in high school. For example, at the Haidian Foreign Languages School (Hai Dian Foreign Languages School, Beijing). To get into high school, you also need to pass an examination test, but it is more democratic and open compared to entering high school. There is no secret about the exam, which to a certain extent reduces stress for both students and parents. This school is considered one of the fashionable ones because it is divided into two departments - the Gaokao department and the foreign department. In general, due to the continuing interest of the Chinese in foreign languages, there are more and more international departments in schools. Back in 2010, only 10 schools had such a division. A little more about the differences. In the gaokao department, schoolchildren study according to a well-known regime, that is, they are preparing for the most important exam in 12-year school education, which opens the way to universities and the door to the future. Gaokao is taken in all subjects at the end of the twelfth (and in some schools the eleventh) grade. And everyone is afraid of him - parents, students and even teachers. The points for each item vary depending on its importance. For example, in this year The passing score for the Chinese language exam is 180, last year it was only 150. But for English, on the contrary, it was reduced from 150 to 120. This is not much of a consolation, however. You will still have to take exams. And schoolchildren studying in this department “cram” and prepare for tests. By the way, starting from high school, students are divided into “humanities” (文科) and “technical” (理科), with a corresponding set of subjects.
The situation is completely different in the foreign department. Students are not prepared for the gaokao. It is expected that children will finish 11th grade in an American school and then enter one of the universities in America; it is now so fashionable in China to avoid the “hassle” of “mind-numbing” tests and go get a “real” education abroad. Perhaps this is correct, if parental resources allow it. Your neighbor's grass is always greener. Schoolchildren avoid the gaokao, but TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) and SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test a.k.a. Academic Assessment Test) will not escape them. This is necessary for an internship at an American school. “Life constantly arranges exams, distracting from the process of improving it”... Most subjects are taught in English by foreign teachers. First of all, the English language is studied, studying is underway - preparation for TOEFL, new words and expressions are crammed. Some subjects are taught in Chinese - mathematics, biology, physics, chemistry - for the sake of the next exam from the city department of education, called 会考, or Certification of High School, which is taken by everyone, regardless of the department in which the student is studying. There is something pleasant about studying in the foreign department - the tasks given by foreign teachers are much more creative and interesting: students work in groups, create and defend projects, spend time searching for information for a report, etc. And there are fewer students in the class - not 40, as in secondary school, but only 25 - 27, as in a regular Western school. The school is the same, but the approach is different.
Now you need to write a little about how students live in the school boarding school. Many schools have student dormitories. In some schools, children live in a boarding school due to the distance of the school from home, and in some schools this is included in one of the rules. Different boarding schools have different numbers of students per room - from 6 to 8, and maybe even more. At the Haidien District Foreign Language School, Beijing, a room of 6 people has a shower and a toilet. In some boarding schools there is a shower and toilet on the floor. They get up at the bell at 6:30, return to the room around 10 pm, after three to four hours of self-preparation and repetition in class at the end of lessons. Three meals a day in the school canteen are also included. It is prohibited to bring electronic devices into the boarding school, that is, all iPhones, iPads and computers wait for their owners at home, where the latter spend their weekends - students return home on Friday evening, and on Sunday evening back to the dormitory. Oh, yes, while not forgetting to wear the school uniform. And raise the flag.
In the provinces, the school system is the same - lessons start at the same time, the same subjects. The differences, perhaps, are only in capabilities. In the provinces there are not many additional sections where you can send your child, for example, studying languages, music, etc., so in addition to studying, there is only studying, unlike the metropolitan slickers. In Beijing, and in others major cities In China, they try to give a little less homework, especially in primary grades, so that children have more free time to attend hobby groups. In addition, there is some inequality among those entering universities - a Beijinger with a score of 500 points on the Gaokao has the opportunity to enter a good university in the capital, while a school graduate from the province. Shandong, having scored the same 500 points, can only count on a technical school in Beijing. Geography has its place.
Teachers in schools are also very busy with work. According to one of the teachers at Shangdi Experimental Middle School, Beijing, the main test for a teacher is to find an appropriate approach to all students and evaluate based on their individual characteristics, since there are a lot of students in the class, sometimes the number reaches 48 - 50, it is not always possible to treat each individual individually. Teachers have a lot of work to do - check a huge amount of homework and exam papers with tests, take advanced training courses, do scientific work, meet with students' parents, etc. And if the teachers set class teacher, then all this falls on the poor in double volume. Therefore, teachers stay at school every day for another 2-3 hours - work takes up a lot of their free time. But you shouldn’t feel sorry for them ahead of time; they have winter and summer holidays, with which they compensate for the lack of free time on weekdays.
So, this is where the widespread judgment about the Chinese “grows” from, that they do not know how to think independently and are completely incapable of approaching things creatively - from the school education system, the Chinese themselves understand. Constant tests, tests, tests that deprive the student of solving a question on his own, rather than choosing the correct answer from 4 options. However, this “accordion” will not exist for long. Positive changes in school education have already been outlined, which are noted by both teachers and students themselves. Firstly, we slightly reduced the load with homework, there was a little less of it. Secondly, due to the reduction in homework, the child is encouraged to attend clubs that develop talents and abilities, such as: dancing, drawing, singing, music, learning foreign languages and others, as far as the imagination and budget of the parents allow. Thirdly, returning to the test system, positive things can be found here: thanks to the tests, students have well-developed logic, and besides, the test system is very convenient for teachers when monitoring the level of knowledge. Still, don’t forget, there are 40 – 50 people in the class, and the lesson time is only 40 minutes. Fourth, the Chinese are actively adopting positive Foreign experience. As mentioned earlier, a system of two departments is being introduced in high school. In the foreign department, lessons are taught by foreign teachers who emphasize teamwork among students, develop their creative skills, teamwork skills, and the ability not just to copy material, but to independently conduct research. Students speak in class, rather than just listen, and express their thoughts and opinions. Fifthly, due to the policy of reducing the birth rate, there are fewer and fewer students every year, which means it is easier for a teacher to find each student individual approach, focus on students, not books and assignments. Students also hope that the examination system, especially for entry into secondary school, will be more democratic and open, and the assessment system more fair.
All these improvements, however, are not intended to “discourage” students. On the contrary, due to the emerging positive changes, students will have more opportunities for self-realization. You will still have to work, because “you can’t catch a fish without work.” We wish them good luck in this noble cause and further success!
FEATURES OF SCHOOL EDUCATION IN CHINA
Verisova Anna Dmitrievna
Ural State Transport University
Lecturer at the Department of Foreign Languages and Intercultural Communications
annotation
The article is devoted to the features of school education in China. “We learn while we are alive. And we will study until we die,” this is exactly the phrase you can hear from a Chinese high school student and it completely reflects reality. To achieve anything in a country with a population of more than one billion, you need to invest a lot in the child at the stage of school education. The entire education system in China is aimed at achieving high results.
SPECIFICS OF SCHOOLING IN CHINA
Verisova Anna Dmitrievna
Ural State University of Railway Transport
lecturer of foreign languages and cross-cultural communications department
Abstract
The article is devoted to the specifics of schooling in China. "We are learning while we are alive. And we will learn until we won’t die" it is a phrase which you can hear from the Chinese high school student, and it fully reflects the reality. If you need to achieve something in a country with a population of over one billion, it is necessary to put a lot into the child on the school stage. The whole system of education in China aims at achieving a good result.
Over the centuries-old history, the Chinese have developed a special attitude towards enlightened people and education in general. Enlightenment played a significant role both in the development of China itself and other civilizations. Teacher's Day in China became the first holiday of a single profession and, probably, it is no coincidence that it began to be celebrated on the birthday of Confucius.
China's multi-million population requires a diverse and developed education system, because each student needs to find his own approach. Particular attention in this aspect is paid to schools. In 2008, a law was passed according to which school education became free and compulsory for everyone (the first 9 years of education).
Training in Chinese schools has both its pros and cons.
Children in China go to school, as in Russia, at the age of 6-7 years. Education at the school is divided into three levels: primary school (the period of study lasts 6 years), secondary school (children also study here for 6 years) and high school (training lasts 3 years). The first nine years of school are free, parents pay for high school, but gifted children can receive a scholarship. It is very rare that a Chinese school combines all three stages at once; most often it is three different schools, having different names. The territory of Chinese schools is huge, consists of a complex of buildings and is a mini-town. This allows it to accommodate about 4 thousand students, and in one class the number of students sometimes reaches 90 people. Thus, it is very difficult to convey information to all students, an individual approach is lost, basically all tasks are completed by the choir.
The flag of the People's Republic of China is installed on the territory of each school, and every Monday children line up and participate in the flag-raising ceremony to the sounds of the national anthem, and so that all students really participate, the youngest are placed on stools. Every day they determine who will be responsible for raising the flag. Thus, they develop a sense of patriotism in children. Already in elementary school, students sincerely begin to love the party for its past and present merits and even know some ideological texts by heart.
School classes begin at 7-8 am and last until 4.30 am, so children spend about 9 hours at school. From 11.30 to 14.00 children rest, have lunch and sleep. It is believed that with such a load, sleep is very useful. The day is structured in such a way that more complex subjects come first, and after sleep, children study easier disciplines. School holidays take place twice a year: in summer and winter, but even during the holidays students do not rest; their parents take them to different clubs or send them abroad to improve their language skills.
Discipline in Chinese schools is no less strict. Respect for teachers and elders begins to be instilled in children from the first grade. Students greet and say goodbye to the teacher while standing. Students perform all actions only with the permission of the teacher; they cannot go to the toilet during a lesson, and if a student is not interested in the lesson, usually no one pays attention to it. In some schools, teachers may still hit children on the wrist for playing or talking in class, so the classroom is usually quiet. Among other things, a student who misses more than 12 lessons will be expelled. Such discipline helps schoolchildren in the future at work. Working in Chinese companies presupposes a strict hierarchy: the main thing is to keep a low profile and unquestioningly obey your elders (and those who are older in the company are most often also senior in rank), and thanks to the principles instilled in them from school, the Chinese do this brilliantly.
Chinese children have a special school uniform - they go to class in the same tracksuits, regardless of whether there is a physical education lesson that day.
Much attention is paid to Chinese language and mathematics in primary schools. This is no coincidence; it is believed that the Chinese language helps to develop a mathematical mindset, and mathematics, in turn, develops logic. Also in elementary school they study natural science, physical education, music, history, geography, fine arts, and in some schools they also add such a subject as ethics and morality (the works of Confucius begin to be read to children in kindergarten). Children are required to attend seminars where issues of political information are covered. During lessons, children are also introduced to Russian writers. Soviet period, and also read a lot about Lenin.
After primary school, students are required to go to secondary school, study there for 3 years, and this is where compulsory schooling ends.
Not the most pleasant moment in schooling– constant passing of exams. The child takes his first exams at the end of primary school. Every parent wants to send their child to the best school, and the higher the level of the school, the more difficult the exams students will have to pass. What’s interesting is that most often exams are held in secret - no one knows the content of the exam and in what form it will be held, so parents are on duty near schools and ask those lucky ones who have already entered. But if a child passes the test successfully, this does not mean that the doors of the right school are open for him. The next step is to collect recommendations from previous teachers, but that's not all. Enrollment in a prestigious Chinese school is to some extent a lottery, because... the final decision is made by the computer. Another way to get into a prestigious school is by registration, but one of the mandatory conditions– You must live in such an apartment for at least three years. This trend is especially noticeable in Beijing. Exams for admission to high school are more democratic: students know in advance what form and subject the test will be in.
After admission, tests and exams do not end in a child’s life. Every day there is a test at the last lesson. A huge number of tests in school develop logic in students, but do not reflect real knowledge at all.
The disciplines that students study in secondary school are no different from those in elementary school. In high school, children study “around the clock”: in addition to classes until 4.30, it involves a lot of homework in all subjects, additional clubs, tutors and very little free time.
At the age of 16, if students decide to continue their studies, they enter high school, where the program is divided into two profiles: academic (the main emphasis is on preparing to enter a university) and vocational profile (on completion, students can work in technical specialties or V agriculture). In addition, there are schools in which the division occurs according to a different principle: in one department they prepare for passing the Chinese “gaokao” exam (something like our Unified State Exam), in another for admission to foreign universities. Schools with such profile division in Lately more and more, since many parents, considering Chinese education not the best, try to send their children to study abroad, and some simply bypass the Gaokao test in this way. “Gaokao” is taken at the end of 12th grade in all subjects and even teachers are afraid of it. While studying in a foreign department, students do not take the gaokao; they study in the 12th grade at an American school and are preparing to enter an American university. But they also have their own exams, such as TOEFL or SAT. Subjects in the foreign department are taught in English language, and the learning process takes place in a more interesting and creative form. Foreign teachers, accustomed to a different teaching system, teach lessons more creatively: students prepare presentations and reports, and lead discussions in groups. But no matter which department the student chooses, he will still have to take the city department exam.
Upon admission to university great importance given to where a person comes from. For example, a Beijinger who received 500 points for “gaokao” can enter a very good university Beijing, and a student from a small province with the same number of points will be welcome only at a Beijing technical school.
The school education system in China is a direct reflection of government policy. From school, children are taught to respect their elders (not only in age, but also in position) and to unquestioningly follow all instructions. A heavy workload, clubs, tutors, a lot of homework, in turn, also teach that in order to achieve something, you need to work hard, and in a country where the population is not even several million, but has already passed the one billion mark, this is important. Already at school, parents prepare their child to be a competitive individual, because in a country like China, the strongest “survive”. And what is most important is that from school they instill in children a love for the party, for the Motherland and the political course.
The Chinese Kao Zhong and Gaokao sound no less frightening than the State Examination and the Unified State Examination, which Russia, by the way, borrowed from the PRC.
How else are our educational systems similar and how would your child study in a Chinese school?
Modern China- a state with a highly developed economy and enormous prospects. However, economic success would be impossible without a well-organized educational system: compulsory free nine-year education is guaranteed by the Constitution. Today in China, more than 200 million people study in a million, many specialized and different-level educational institutions. But back in the fifties of the twentieth century, 80% of the Chinese population were illiterate!
School everyday life
School education divided into three levels: primary school and two levels of secondary school. It is interesting that all three levels are different educational institutions. The academic year, like ours, begins on September 1, but consists of two semesters with a break for winter (from January to February) and summer (from mid-July to the end of August) holidays. Students attend classes five days a week, however, while Russian students study on average until 1 pm, Chinese children are at school until 4 pm and have up to 9 lessons daily. Due to the high level of workload, the school day is divided into two parts with a break for lunch and sleep (“comfortably” sitting at a desk), and physical education lessons are required every day.
Particular attention is paid to the education of patriotism: the morning begins with the raising of the national flag, and the “Chinese dream” (analogous to the American version) has become the obligatory topic of the essay.
We should pay tribute to the Chinese government, which not only controls educational institutions, but also provides them with repairs and material and technical base.
With a stick, not with a carrot
In primary school, children study nine compulsory subjects, which include Chinese, mathematics, social studies, natural history, physical education, ideology and morality, music, art and labor training. Starting in 4th grade, students spend two weeks a year on the farm or in the workshops.
The children are taught various crafts and the basics of agriculture.
High school involves a large number of homework and minimal free time. After lessons, children attend developmental sections - sports, dance, language, etc., which are designed to develop a highly organized, competitive personality.
The number of students in the class is 40-50 people Therefore, it is very appropriate that it is not the students, but the teachers, who move from classroom to classroom. Assessment of educational results is carried out according to a hundred-point system. The scores are posted in the class journal, and parents, if desired, can monitor the progress of their children.
In Chinese schools, attendance is strictly monitored: more than 12 absences can easily become a reason for expulsion. There are also clear rules regarding appearance: compulsory school uniform and short-cropped or ponytailed hair. Each school has its own uniform color and logo on its cap.
Prestige race
In China, a decent education is treated as a high honor, having received which, a person will be able to improve not only his financial situation, but the life of the entire country. Fierce competition and the problem of unemployment in an overpopulated state forces children to fight for their place in the sun from the first grade.
In order to get into a prestigious high school after completing primary school, you must pass a “tricky” entrance exam, the content of which is unknown in advance. Most often, it takes the form of a math test, and the level of tasks is an order of magnitude higher than what the children took in class. In this regard, the most enterprising parents either hire tutors or, even before the birth of the child, buy an apartment in the area of the school they like in order to be automatically enrolled in it. For those who are lucky, there is another way to a prestigious educational institution - computer program, which, out of ten students recommended by teachers, selects one who will be enrolled in a reputable school.
Exit to the big life
Nine years of education are paid for by the state; for the next three years, parents pay from their own wallets. Only the most outstanding students can count on a scholarship. The last three years of study are devoted to preparing for the main final exam - gaokao (literally “high exam”). Children are trained to perform test tasks that are convenient for teachers to test knowledge, but at the same time do not leave opportunities for children to express their point of view, talk about guidelines and values, and give an emotional assessment.
Gaokao takes place over two or three days. Three subjects are compulsory: Chinese, mathematics and a foreign language - English, less often Japanese, Russian or French. The remaining subjects depend on the humanitarian or technical profile chosen by the child. The maximum points vary depending on the importance of the subject. Plus, there is regional discrimination: applicants with the same number of points from Beijing and, say, provincial Kunming have unequal chances of admission to a popular university.
Thus, in China, being first is not just a style of behavior, but a vital necessity. And the first step of a long journey is, of course, school, much like the one you went to.
Being Chinese is not easy at all. When there are more than one and a half billion of you in a country without social guarantees, you have to work hard to find a place in the sun. But Chinese children are ready for this - their hard work begins in first grade.
At one time, I worked as an English teacher in four Chinese schools (and as a trainer at a kung fu school). Therefore, it is very interesting to compare Russian education and the features of schools in the Middle Kingdom.
Children in school uniform - tracksuits - in class, dedicated to the Day Earth, Liaocheng, April 2016.
Many schools in China do not have heating, so teachers and students do not take off their outerwear in winter. Central heating found exclusively in the north of the country. In central and southern China, buildings are designed for warm climates. This means that in winter, when the temperature can drop to zero, and sometimes even lower, the only means of heating is air conditioning. School uniform- tracksuit: wide pants and jacket. The cut is almost the same everywhere, only the colors of the suit and the school emblem on the chest differ. All school grounds are bordered by large iron gates, which are always kept closed, opening only to allow students to leave.
In Chinese schools, they do exercises every day (and more than one) and conduct a general exercise. The morning at school begins with exercises, then a line on which the main news is reported and the flag is raised - school or state. After the third lesson, all children do exercises to relax their eyes. To the accompaniment of soothing music and a recorded narrator's voice, schoolchildren click on special dots. In addition to morning exercises, there is afternoon exercise - around two o'clock in the afternoon, when, to the same inexorable loudspeaker, schoolchildren pour out into the corridor in a single impulse (if there is not enough space in the classrooms), begin to raise their arms to the sides and up and jump.
Chinese schoolchildren from the city of Jinan do exercises on the roof.
A big break, also known as a lunch break, usually lasts an hour. During this time, children have time to go to the canteen (if there is no canteen at the school, they are brought food in special trays-boxes), have lunch, and also run, stretch their legs, scream and play pranks. Teachers in all schools are given free lunch. And, I must say, the food is very good. Lunch traditionally consists of one meat and two vegetable dishes, rice and soup. Expensive schools also provide fruit and yogurt. People in China love to eat, and even at school traditions are observed. After the lunch break, some junior schools allow five minutes of “sleep time.” By the way, a couple of times my students fell asleep in the middle of the lesson, and the poor things had to be woken up with their hearts bleeding.
A variant of a modest school lunch by Chinese standards: eggs with tomatoes, tofu, cauliflower with pepper, rice.
The attitude towards teachers is very respectful. They are called by their surname with the prefix "teacher", such as Teacher Zhang or Teacher Xiang. Or just “teacher”. In one school, students - no matter whether they were mine or not - bowed when they met me.
In many schools, physical punishment is the order of the day. A teacher can hit a student with his hand or a pointer for some offense. The further away from big cities and the simpler the school, the more common this is. My Chinese friend told me what they were given at school certain time to learn English words. And for every unlearned word they were beaten with a stick.
Recess during traditional drumming classes, Ansai city.
There is a rating of student performance in the classroom, which encourages students to study better. Grades range from A to F, where A is the highest, corresponding to 90-100%, and F - unsatisfactory 59%. Promotion good behavior― an important part of the educational system. For example, for a correct answer or exemplary behavior in class, a student receives a star of a certain color or additional points. Points and stars will be deducted for talking in class or misconduct. The progress of schoolchildren is reflected on a special chart on the board. The competition, so to speak, is obvious.
Chinese children study more than 10 hours every day. Lessons usually last from eight in the morning until three or four in the afternoon, after which the children go home and do endless things homework until nine or ten o'clock in the evening. On weekends, schoolchildren from big cities necessarily have some kind of additional classes with tutors; they go to music school, art schools and sports sections. Due to the highest level of competition, children are under pressure from their parents from childhood. If they fail to do well in the examination after primary school (and compulsory education in China it takes 12-13 years), then the path to university is blocked for them.
On September 1, first-graders of the Confucius School in Nanjing take part in the ceremony of writing the hieroglyph “ren” (“person”), which begins their education.
Schools are divided into public and private. Tuition fees at private schools can reach up to thousands of dollars per month. The level of education in them is many times higher. Special meaning attached to the study of a foreign language. Two or three English lessons a day, and by the fifth or sixth grade, students of elite schools already speak English fluently. However, for example, in Shanghai there is a special state program, paid for by the government, under which foreign teachers They also teach in regular public schools.
The education system is based on rote memorization. Children simply memorize a huge amount of material. Teachers demand automatic reproduction, without particularly caring about how understandable the learned material is. But now alternative education systems are gaining increasing popularity: Montessori or Waldorf, aimed at developing children creativity. Of course, such schools are private, education in them is expensive and accessible to a very small number of people.
Children from poor families who do not want to study or are too naughty (in the opinion of their parents) are often withdrawn from mainstream education educational institution and sent to kung fu schools. There they live on full board, train from morning to evening and, if they are lucky, receive a basic primary education: they must be able to read and write, and, given the Chinese language system, this is very difficult. In such institutions, physical punishment is the order of the day.
Classes at a kung fu school.
Teachers hit students with a stick-sword or, without further ado, they can kick or slap students. But at the end of the day, parents get a disciplined young man with the profession of a kung fu trainer and at least some chance to break into the people. Most of the famous kung fu masters went through just such a school of life. It is also quite common for children with poor health to be sent here for a year or two so that they can strengthen their health by living and practicing kung fu or tai chi.
Regardless of where Chinese children study - in a kung fu school or a regular one, they learn three main qualities from childhood: the ability to work, discipline and respect for elders and hierarchy.
They are taught from childhood that they must be the best, no matter what. Perhaps this is why the Chinese are now beginning to occupy leading positions in all branches of science, culture and art. Competing with Europeans who grew up in more greenhouse conditions, they often don't give them a chance. Simply because we are not used to studying for ten hours straight. Every day. All year round.