Finals Preparation

As the New Year came, so did the new changes to the school. Principal Zhang has all but left and cleared out everything in the Principal’s Office, while I was busy backing up all the 6 years of computer data (pictures, movies, documents) onto our recently bought external hard drives. The initial shock of changes has all gone away, as we have accepted what is happening, so now we are just left off trying not to think too much and ask why, as we really don’t have an answer. In fairness, there are no huge changes that will affect the kid’s education. The material is the same, the teachers are the same. Maybe some of the educational values that Principal Zhang emphasizes like social responsibility and critical thinking will be less encouraged. But the kids will be fine as long as there are nurturing, education-oriented teachers around them, which there are. I just don’t like the idea that it’s being controlled, restricted, and placed in the same type of uniformity by the Government.

We’re also in the full swing of review mode, prepping for the finals that will take place next week. If there’s one thing I really don’t like about Chinese education, it’s the amount of work and pressure they put on these kids starting from such a young age. Even the 1st graders are busy reviewing and taking practice tests in preparation for finals! Until I sat down and talked with the Principal, we were handing out practice tests after practice test every single day. The kids are getting numb and are becoming study robot drones with the sole purpose of getting a high mark on a test that can be barely considered a true indication of their ability. It’s a horrible system because we are getting pressured to make these students get higher marks, and in turn we are pressuring kids to the point where they will soon lose interest in learning. I let the Principal know my feelings, so now there’s a little less pressure, but I still feel bad for these kids. Their life is revolved around studying and doing well on tests. They get up at 6:30AM, get ready and do morning exercise until 7:30AM, memorize and read their school books until breakfast at 8:15AM, have 2 classes in the morning, eat lunch, 3 more classes in the afternoon, manual skills class, wash-up, dinner, and then self-study/homework class until 8PM. There are breaks of course throughout but generally they spend a huge amount of time in the classroom. And it’s not only our school, these are all the schools in China.