Kids need space to cultivate creativity

Editor's note: A semester has ended with students taking their exams. Should students' school performance be evaluated solely on the basis of their exam scores? Two experts share their views on the issue with China Daily's Yao Yuxin. Excerpts follow:

Important to help kids choose their vocation

Chinese students are known to be good at exams. But education does not mean they should become machines good enough to only pass exams, as that would undermine their creativity, which in turn could put them in a disadvantageous position at a time when advanced technology and innovation have become increasingly important in global competition.

Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei has reiterated the importance of improving the level of basic education, as well as raising the salaries of teachers, especially those teaching in rural areas. Basic education provides the foundation for a country to prepare for the severe competition in the field of science and technology, especially cutting-edge technology, so it is incumbent upon China to reform the basic education system in order to improve it.

Given the ruthless competition in schools, Chinese kids are under tremendous pressure to perform well by cramming hard and attending extra study classes while taking part in extracurricular activities such as learning music from a very young age. The blind pursuit of high scores the children are forced into reduces their passion for learning and impairs their creative qualities.

And once they gain admission to a college and are free of any external pressure to cram, many students waste a lot of time playing computer games or on other leisure activities.

Teachers and parents have to change their mindsets and, instead of forcing children to study subjects of their choice, give the kids more room to grow and cultivate their creative talents so they can choose the fields they are really interested or are good in.

Also, it is important that the authorities raise the stipends and allowances of researchers, especially those working in the fields of science and advanced technology.

Gu Mingyuan, a professor of Beijing Normal University and honorary president of the Chinese Society of Education