How to relieve students of the burden of education

Zhang Min cannot relax even on weekends, for she has to rush her nine-year-old daughter to special classes.

"Almost all the kids in my daughter's class are learning Olympic math, English, or musical instruments or other skills after school," Zhang said in Beijing yesterday.

Parents like Zhang believe the more special knowledge or skills their children acquire the greater will be their chances of getting admitted to a top secondary school.