China's educational authority has banned primary and junior
middle schools from making public students' marks or ranking them
accordingly.
Primary and junior high schools are also prohibited from using
exams, assessments or tests to enroll students, or scores in other
competitive evaluations, according to a circular issued by the
Ministry of Education.
As part of the central government's push to provide nine years
of free compulsory education, the ministry instructed local
authorities to ensure school-age are admitted to nearby schools
during their nine-year-old compulsory education.
The frequency of exams held in schools was also restricted in
the circular.
Schools in China have been accused by some experts as putting
too much emphasis on the exam scores of students, which could
stifle their originality and hinder their development.
Schools should adhere to the national curriculum program by
neither adding class hours for exam subjects nor cutting class
hours for non-exam subjects, such as recreation, sports and field
trips, the circular said.
Each student should be guaranteed one hour of physical exercise
(P.E.) everyday. Primary school children should have at least ten
days of field trips every year, and junior high students 20 days,
the Ministry said.
The ministry has also forbidden schools from give
extracurricular classes during holidays or organize them to attend
tutorial classes.
Teachers were also prohibited from insulting and physically
punishing students after a recent survey showed teachers often
humiliated pupils.
Aiming to improve China's exam-oriented education system, the
ministry launched a curriculum reform in primary and middle schools
throughout the country in 2000, including adding another hour of
physical exercise time.
(Xinhua News Agency August 29, 2006)
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