10 Fun Facts about the Chinese Education System


 

Furen High School

Furen High School by Synyan from Wikimedia Commons

China boasts the world’s largest educational system. The National Higher Education Entrance Examination (Gao Kao) was taken by 10.78 million students in China in June 2021. Over 1000 higher education institutions across the country have accepted international students. In China, education expenditures account for around 4% of total GDP. The Chinese government implemented a compulsory education law in 1986, requiring all Chinese children to attend school for nine years. According to the Ministry of Education, almost 99 percent of school-aged children have obtained a universal nine-year basic education today.

China has enhanced the quality of education by overhauling the school curriculum and implementing other changes. China’s Education Modernisation 2035 plan was established to determine the path for the education sector’s development from “capacity” to “quality,” and to ensure that education modernization supports China’s modernization.

1. The literacy rate among young people is 99.4%

Tuku Junior High School Chinese Orchestra

Tuku Junior High School Chinese Orchestra from Wikimedia Commons

The literacy rate among young people (15-24 years old) ( percent ). Total is the number of persons aged 15 to 24 who can read and write a brief basic statement about their daily lives with understanding, divided by the population in that age range. In general, ‘literacy’ includes ‘numeracy,’ or the ability to do basic mathematical operations.

In China, literacy is defined as the ability to identify more than 1,500 Chinese characters in rural regions and more than 2,000 characters in urban areas. Between the ages of 15 and 24, youth literacy is measured.

2. Citizens of China are required to attend school for nine years

Basic education, higher education, and adult education are the three types of education in China. Each child is required by law to complete nine years of compulsory education, ranging from primary school (six years) to junior secondary school (three years) (three years).

The Compulsory Education Law went into force on July 1, 1986, mandating all citizens to complete at least nine years of schooling.

3. Preschool is usually started when a child is three years old

Preschool education (typically three years), primary education (six years, generally beginning at the age of six), and secondary education (seven years, usually beginning at the age of twelve) are the three levels of basic education in China (six years).

Preschool education in China is mostly focused on metropolitan and developed areas. Preschool is typically for children under the age of six. It is, however, dependent on the sort of preschool. A nursery is for children aged three and under. Kindergarten is a program for children aged three to six years old. Children who attend kindergarten in China are divided into three groups, according to Chinese government rules established in 1981. Juniors are children under the age of three, middle children under the age of four, and seniors are children beyond the age of five.

4. Self-study sessions before and after sessions in the morning and evening 

On a daily basis, classes tend to continue longer than in Western nations (around 8 hours a day). Students proceed to their classes and begin a morning self-study period (named zo zxi) after a morning warm-up and a general line-up in the yard. They prefer to spend time with their classmates after class at the end of the day before returning to class to begin their evening self-study sessions.

Parents, on the other hand, prefer to send their children to remedial programs conducted by teachers (known as bx bn) rather than nighttime self-study sessions. They will be able to progress even more as a result of this.

5. Almost every kid attends after-school tutoring but…

According to the Financial Times, Chinese parents spent $12.9 billion USD on after-school tutoring for their children in 2008 however in 2021 private tutoring has been severely regulated in China, with the government condemning the business for promoting an unhealthy educational rat race.

Weekend and holiday academic classes were outlawed. Companies in the education sector have been unable to build additional facilities or get funding. All for-profit academic tutoring would be prohibited beginning in January 2022.

6. The majority of the youngsters also attend Saturday lessons

Students learning in China

Students learning in China by Thomas Galvez from Wikimedia Commons

Students in China attend courses five or six days a week, from early morning (about 7 a.m.) until early evening (around 7 p.m.) (4 pm or later). Many schools have obligatory morning science and math lessons on Saturdays.

In the evenings and on weekends, many students attend (buxiban), or cram school. Similar to tutoring in the West, Chinese schools provide extra Chinese, English, science, and math programs as well as one-on-one tutoring. Students study Chinese, English, history, literature, music, art, and physical education in addition to math and science.

7. The Chinese education system is the most demanding in the world

Middle school students in China are often obliged to study Chinese, English, arithmetic, physics, and chemistry, which are the five basic topics on the nationwide Middle School Entrance Exam.

Nicholas Kristof of New York Times says, “the peasant children are a grade ahead in math compared with my children at an excellent public school in the New York area.”

8. After school, 56.7 percent of Chinese students study for two hours or more

According to a poll done by the four nations, Chinese high school students spend the longest study hours compared to their peers in Japan, the United States, and the Republic of Korea. The research which was done revealed that around 78.3 percent of Chinese students said they spend more than eight hours in school each day, and 56.7 percent said they study for at least two hours longer at home each day.

Only 24.7 percent of their classmates in the United States, 20.5 percent in Japan, and 15.4 percent in Korea, on the other hand, spend more than two hours after school studying. Around 60% of all students polled claimed their academics were the most difficult; however, the Japanese believed their studies were the most difficult, with replies reaching 79.2 percent.

9. Only 35% of Chinese students watch more than 2 hours of television every day.

According to a research conducted by the China Youth and Children Research Center, just 24.7 percent of children in the United States, 20.5 percent in Japan, and 15.4 percent in Korea spend more than two hours studying after school.

10. Cramming

Cramming, or as the exact word from Chinese translates, “forced-feeding duck style of schooling,” is rather common. Students must comprehend a significant quantity of information in a short period of time with the goal of scoring as high as possible on tests. Though they may learn a lot the problem is that more than half of what they study is forgotten within a few weeks following the exam. It is obligatory learning, and there are no restrictions on the subjects that can be studied.

Every country’s educational system is inextricably linked to its history, philosophy, population, politics, and other elements, and it is hard to comprehend it without considering all of them.

It’s also impossible to judge one system as excellent or poor since it’s so complicated and there are so many factors to consider. The only certainty is that we can learn something from each educational system that we can integrate into our own system to help our kids and better our own education.

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