Exploring China's Education System

China's Education Structure

At first glance, China's education structure seems pretty similar to that of Singapore's. Like our education structure, it comprises 6 years of pre-school education, 9 years of compulsory basic education (six years of primary education and three years of secondary education) and higher education.

However, upon closer examination, a handful of differences could be spotted. Unlike Singapore's education system, which has been described by many as "world-leading", China's education system has been criticised for its rigorousness, as well as its emphasis on rote memorisation and test preparation, an example being the notoriously difficult and stressful collage entrance examination, or 高考 in Chinese, despite the fact that both Shanghai and Hong Kong are among the top performers in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).

Chinese students taking the 高考

The 高考 lasts about 9 hours over a period of 2 days and is literally a make-or-break attempt. Score well, and you get into a prestigious university and have a bright future; fail, and you get no degree, poor job prospects and a life of regret. Thus, it inevitably leads to enormous psychological strain on Chinese students, especially in their final year of high school. The test is also bias due to its quota system which is based on residency, with a student from Anhui Province, which is where we would be visiting during our OELP, having a one in 7826 chance of getting into Peking University, one of China's most prestigious universities, while a student from Beijing had one in 190 odds, or 0.5 percent. Even so, this is much lower when compared to Harvard's acceptance rate of 5.9 percent.

After researching on China's education structure, we start to appreciate and take pride in Singapore's education system as it is certainly far less stressful and much more transparent than theirs. We are also very excited about our OELP trip as we wish to learn more about China's education system.

Hefei Shouchun Middle School (合肥寿春中学)

Looks pretty cool, doesn't it?

This is Hefei Shouchun Middle School, the biggest private junior high school in Hefei, and the one we would be visiting during our OELP trip.

And it doesn't just look good in pictures, it's impressive on paper too! Set up in 1999, it currently has 98 teaching classes with over 3400 students, with its present principal being Mr Lü Daokui. Its school motto is "为成功人生做准备", which means "preparations for a successful life" in English. The school believes in people-centricity and aims to become a distinguished school that society approves and parents are satisfied with.

Is it just us or does this school look like ours? Either way, we are definitely very excited to visit this awesome school!

3 Questions To Ask During The Immersion

- What do Chinese students think about their education system? How effective and stressful do they think it is?

- How many hours do Chinese students spend studying (just to confirm the numerous studies about it) and how much free time do they have? Do they think that the many hours that they have spent on studying is worth it?

- How do Chinese students spend their free time? Do they actively pursue their interests and hobbies (such as sports, etc)?