 Ask
any parent who is the busiest at home, and the answer
would invariably be: the child, the kid who attends
school. Heavy homework and a great variety of tutorial
classes over the weekend once made life miserable
for all pupils. Many parents and teachers know clearly
that this study method is not conducive to the overall
development of the kids. But, confronted with fierce
competition for admissions to schools of a higher
grade, they had to accept.
For many
years, education in primary, junior middle and senior
middle schools in China is geared mainly toward
making students successful candidates for schools
of a higher grade. This is called examination-oriented
education. Criteria for teaching quality are students'
examination scores and the percentage of students
winning admissions by schools of a higher grade.
Examination-oriented education has the following
characteristics: a dogmatic, rigid teaching method
is used; teaching consists mainly in classroom cramming
by the teacher; and the cultivation of student's
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ability, creativity and learning
initiative is neglected. Primary and middle schools
generally suffer from the following: too many
courses to be learned, too many courses to be
examined, too many course-related guidance materials,
and too heavy a study burden on the students.
According to a sample survey made by the State
Statistical Bureau in August, 1998, primary and
middle school students surveyed spent an average
of  8.8
hours a day at school, one-third of them felt
a shortage of sleep, two-thirds felt a heavy examination
burden, and 56 percent said their schoolbags were
"very heavy." Alleviating study burden
for students, therefore, has become the most talked-about
issue in elementary education reform.
The
existing examination method has also restricted
the growth of a student's personality and the
unleashing of his or her creative power. For example,
standardized examinations are held in all schools
because they are regarded as being scientific
and accurate. But the singleness of answers in
a standard examination conflicts with the characteristics
of the
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