Naturally we all assume that Chinese students are smart, but years ago that was not the case. Fifty-four years ago, the majority of China’s population was illiterate. Yes, it’s true. Before the People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949, nearly 80% of the 500 million people living in China were illiterate. That all changed when Mao Zedong’s dynasty came and education was one of the top priorities of the government. The Chinese use to not care if they could read or write because most of them would grow up to become farmers like there past relatives. Then Mao came along and implanted private schools all over the nation in 1980.
What is so surprising is that in 64 years China has the highest literacy rate of 99% for youth between the ages of 15-24. UNICEF reports that from 2000-2007. The average Chinese student have to go to preschool for 3 years; the Chinese believe that preschool is a crucial part of their personality development. Students are taught how to play games, sing, act, dance and uphold the values of truth, kindness and beauty.
After preschool, the Chinese student will spend 6 years in elementary school and another then 3 years in middle school. When they graduate out of elementary school they are spilt into 3 groups – vocational, a technical path, or another basic extension. A typical middle school day is very long: 7:30 a.m-4:p.m. The school day start with gymnastic, then kids go to the lessons. Each class consists of 55 to 60 students, but there are hardly any behavior issues. Students take a lot of notes. On rare occasions they may participate in a classroom. Mondays is cleaning-day and students are responsible for cleaning there school by washing windows, sweeping and mopping floors, etc. Also Monday is roll call day.
A Typical Day for a Chinese Student at School:
7:10-8:00 Children arrive and do practice exercises
8:00-8:20 Reading time and preparation for classes
8:20-9:40 Two classes of 40 minutes each
9:40-10:40 A break for doing eyes exercises, what we would call recess
10:40-12:00 There are 2 more classes of 40 minutes each
12:00-2:00 Students can go home for lunch or eat lunch at school
2:00-3:30 Classes resume with 2 more 40 minute classes
3:00 The specialized classes begin which last about an hour High school last for 3