Jason

Chinese Civilization

Modern School System

The Chinese school system, like many other elements of Chinese society, can be traced back with relative ease to it's origins. Though this may not be unique in and of itself, the strong similarities that exist between the Chinese education system of today and that of many years ago are quite numerous and hard to ignore.

Some of the most fundamental, and core, aspects and values within the schooling system of today can be traced back to Kung Fu Zi (Confucius), the father of Confucianism. Down at the very basic levels of this philosophy, stress is placed on the immense value of education.

Kung Fu Zi believed that the way to better yourself, and thus advance your position in life, was through education. To make this more of a reality to more people, he stressed the importance that all people, regardless of social standing, had a right to an education. This was quite an advanced view for his time and has had an immeasurable influence through Chinese civilization ever since it's introduction.

Confucianism, despite having many elements apparent within the modern education system, isn't the sole influence that can be found by looking into China's past. Buddhism, too, has it's share of influence on the schools of today. The most notable of these would be the requirement for the study and memorization of documents, as has been done by the Buddhist monks with their sutras for hundreds of years.

Barring the philosophical influence of Confucianism and Buddhism, there is no religious influence apparent within Chinese schooling, from any age. All things considered, this isn't all too shocking when one looks to the current cultural attitude in China and the beliefs of those in power.

China's schooling system is, with few exceptions, a state-run public one. This is true from a form of preschool all the way through to the universities. One of the more prominent examples is that of the required patriotic service, which exists in differing forms through all the age groups. As early as elementary school, students are required to join certain groups to show their support for the government. In junior high school, the bar is raised when the students have mandatory military training. A military officer is sent over to the school, and the students (male and female alike) are brought out to go through some basic drills and exercises. They learn to march in step, stand at attention for varying amounts of time, and go through some physical training. This can last anywhere from one to several days. After entering high school, students go through a more intensive version of the training when the whole class is sent to a military base. Here they go through the same training they did years earlier, only with more intensity and many more skills to learn. This includes physical labor, studying, targeting, aiming, and firing weaponry, along some military protocol. This can last anywhere from one to several weeks. Some students look forward to this experience as a form of escape from the constant monotonous drone of homework and testing, but for others (depending on when the trip takes place) it can just be incredibly tasking, especially for those who have exams the week after they get back and have to combine the training with late nights of studying. This military training is compulsory, as no one can graduate without completing it (and if, due to illness or some other legitimate excuse, a student misses it, they're expected to make it up before being allowed to graduate). At the university level, they have the same required military training as that in high school, but it lasts for approximately one month. There's also an optional university political party that one could join, which also happens to be an unofficial background requirement for those who wish to get into a government career.

The government has it's hands in the schooling system in another area. This would be in the area of “politics”. This is a class taught to all Chinese students from early in their elementary school years up until the end of high school (and university). The topics range from the economy and the monetary system to how the government runs and (undoubtedly praising) details about the current head of the country. In some of the more noteworthy of cases, the class even goes as far as telling students that there is no god, no spirit, and nothing further along those lines. To critique or express a negative opinion towards the leaders of the country can mean an automatic expulsion from the school. After all the many years students have put into getting into and remaining in school, this can be a severe problem, especially considering that they likely wouldn't be able to go to another school as is so common in the west.

School starts between the ages of five and six years old. The reason for this gap is due to the time between “optional” and the requisite nine years of schooling (which begins at age six). At around the age of five to five and a half years, the parents have the opportunity to send their child to preschool (as it's known here in the west, though the similarities end at the name and the age group). They also have the choice of whether their child will attend half a year before schooling begins, or the whole year. This is, by technicality, optional, though it's more the rule than the exception to go. In this preschool, students learn very basic characters, how to write their name, and math skills. As mentioned earlier, primary schooling begins at the age of six, though there are some minor exceptions to this. Due to economic difficulties and other such problems in the more rural and poorer parts of China, some students start later (some up to the age of nine before starting school). The method to picking schools at this point is a matter of whichever is closest, though as time goes by and the student progresses through school, this changes.

The types of classes and length of schooling for the average elementary school student isn't all too unlike that which western students attend. Students don't typically take part in traditional after-school activities though it isn't uncommon for some parents, in the hopes of helping their child get ahead, to hire a tutor or enroll their child in some class or another to teach them additional skills, such as painting, calligraphy, piano, or other such subjects. When students aren't busy with schoolwork, homework, or additional activities, most of their free time is spent studying for the all-important exams.

Upon finishing elementary school, students move up to junior high school, the last of the nine years of compulsory education. The hours for school increase, and homework typically lasts late into the night, oftentimes around midnight. Though, according to the state, school is only on Mondays through Fridays, Saturday is an optional day that few, if any, students ever turn down for fear of getting too far behind their classmates. Sundays are then spent doing all the extra assignments that were passed out by the teacher the day before.

The school year is broken up by two breaks: Summer and Spring Festival/Chinese New Year. Summer break is two months long while the other break varies a bit due to the differences between the traditional Chinese calendar and the one used in modern times, though it's usually between 20 days to a month. In junior high school, however, about one day a month during the summer to do some work and to show what progress they've done on their summer assignments. In the last years of the junior high school, a whole month becomes yet more optional attendance that very few students turn down, again in the fear that they may fall far behind their classmates. The times of optional attendance (which are called “optional” because they technically take place during state recognized holidays and can't make the students attend) are spent much like normal schooling, with the usual classes, assignments, and homework. The free time that students do have of their summer break is often spent taking part in the additional classes that their parents have set up for them.

All students within a given class (which can consist of up to sixty or so students) are acutely aware of where they place amongst their peers academically (this is due, I'd assume, greatly to the fact that Chinese society as a whole is a more group-oriented culture, and puts very little stress on personal privacy). After each exam, the teacher will read off the scores of each student to the class, with their current standing being quite clear. Even the seating arrangements are organized this way, with the students being seated according to position (based upon scores) in class (for example: the first twenty students are seated up front, the next twenty behind them, and the last twenty to forty in the back of the room). It doesn't stop at the classroom, however, and continues nearly seamlessly into the home, with the neighbors, and other members of the community. Most parents are constantly aware of their child's current scores in school, along with the scores of all the other students that live nearby. This is another source of stress within the average student's life, as parents, relatives, family friends, and neighbors are often comparing them child with all their peers. The top ten students in the class are placed into a separate group and taught additional classes (often with some of the best teachers in the school) to help them advance even further, though this can be a double-edged sword due to all the additional work that this brings. These students are also given the ability to take part in additional examinations that can help them raise their grades. One of the new classes introduced in junior high school to all students is english, which all students are expected to learn at least a certain amount of.

The last year of junior high school is an incredibly stressful time. Most of that year is spent in preparation for the high school entrance exams, a key turning point that can affect the rest of a person's life depending on how well they do. If someone fails the entrance exams, their only choice is to enroll in a trade school so they can (hopefully) find work. For those who do pass, not all high schools are equal. Though unofficial, certain schools are known to be better, some worse, and there is a form of ranking. Out of eighteen-thousand or so students vying for spots in the high schools, the very top only takes about one-thousand, and so on and so forth down the line. Any student caught cheating on the entrance exams would be barred from taking it for another three years, effectively keeping them from enrolling at all. Though it doesn't necessarily matter what school any certain student attended in the past, it certainly can help them when it comes to the exam. Obviously, the better junior high schools have better teachers and are willing to teach the students beyond the information required in the books, whereas the “lower” (for lack of a better word) schools don't have the same quality of teachers nor do they put in the extra effort. This usually can mean the difference for what school a given student can get into. What does determine what high school a student gets into is based purely on their score and how they did in the examination. Bribery does, however, exist and does take place. For a suitable donation, certain parents are able to get their child into some of the better schools regardless of test score.

As mentioned earlier, where one goes to school was usually (at least during the preschool through elementary years) determined by whatever was closest to the child's home. As they advance through the education system, it becomes increasingly important what school a child attends, and the schools become increasingly fewer in number. This leads to longer commutes for students, sometimes going to a school that's far on the other side of the city. Most students get to school by way of bicycle, though (if it's close enough) others walk, and yet others take public transportation. Due to China's large population and limited space, there are special lanes on the streets devoted purely to bicycles to help accommodate those who choose to travel this way and to make traffic move much faster without being bogged down by the bicycles. Regardless of distance and convenience, most students will willingly take on a longer commute to go to a better school. Some status and prestige does come with the school a student attends, earning varying amounts of respect from store clerks to other students based upon the school insignia or other such identifiers that may be found on a uniform.

School hours in high school increase yet again, with students attending from around eight in the morning to nine at night, with two hours for lunch and one hour for dinner (though most of this free time is spent studying). With homework added in and a commute in the morning, it's not too uncommon for students to be sleep-deprived for long periods of time. The summer month is no longer optional at this point and becomes additional required schooling.

Despite all this stress, though not unheard of, suicide amongst students is far from as common as it is in Japan. Also of an interesting note as a comparison between the two systems (which are both highly influenced by Confucianism), the administration makes little to no effort to influence students to refrain from engaging in relationships or even spending much time with a student of the opposite sex outside of school grounds as the Japanese school system is known to do. Certainly, the Chinese schools do suggest against relationships (as it would make for less time for studying and other important things), they don't seem to enforce this beyond a suggestion.

During high school, a similar seating arrangement is kept from the earlier years (arranged by scores), though students are typically seated at small table/desks that they share with another student (two students to each table). This can, and does, raise certain problems with cheating, though apparently cheating on exams is far from uncommon amongst students throughout most of their scholastic career. The penalty for being caught cheating is typically a meeting with the student's parents or simply an automatic failure on the given exams. However, with so few teachers, it seems that it's too common to remove altogether, and students continue to adapt to find new and different ways to do it.

As the end of high school nears, students start preparing for the final exams as early as a year before they occur. Like the exams between junior high school and high school, these exams are another life-altering point. A student who only graduates high school and doesn't obtain a higher education has a fairly bleak future in the job market, likely able to expect a job as a waiter/waitress, a doorman, a street sweeper, or something else of that kind. These exams work in much the same, with students taking tests in many different categories, ending up ultimately with a score that determines what universities they can apply/will be accepted for.

University, however, is a different experience entirely. For the first year or so, students don't bother much with schoolwork, homework, or even going to all their classes. The universities simply accept this as a part of the process and don't penalize them much, if at all. It's accepted as a time where the students relax, party, and do all the things that they never had time for and, quite possibly, might not have the time to do again once they graduate and enter the workplace. After this first year, students typically go back to studying and working hard towards their preset goals again.

The Chinese school system, at a glance, seems to be a highly difficult one that leaves little to no time for personal development and freedom. I personally would, for the most part, agree. This doesn't, however, mean that I agree with the meaning behind it. Every country and culture has a different view on the world and on the people that belong to it. The system in place in China may be difficult, yes, and it may certainly constrain a person's personal development. However, with the way China is structured societally, this is the school system that best prepares students for the world they will face, not only in education, but in a personal realm. China, like many other Asian nations, is a group-oriented society, which does not necessarily fall in well with personal development and freedom. It's also traditionally a nation that honors a strong work ethic, which the school most certainly impresses upon the people that come in and out of the doors. In short, I agree with the first perception of it. I just don't agree that this is necessarily a bad thing.