Education

'Winter camp' no holiday

By Wang Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-26 09:44

Ningning doesn't look forward to the coming month-long winter holiday. As the semester ended on Jan 23, the 10-year-old fourth grader at a local primary school knows her studies will continue - only under the name of a winter camp.

She knows the camp doesn't involve hanging out with friends or joining activities that interest her.

It is a four-day "Olympic mathematics" crash course organized by one of the biggest training centers for primary and middle school students in the city. Her study schedule also includes daily math and English classes that end three days before the Spring Festival.

"I wish I could visit my grandmother in Sichuan, but my mother and teachers tell me that if I don't take any courses during the holiday, I will fall behind my classmates," she said. "Most of them also attend classes and winter camps. Our study schedules are full. I wish I could have a real camp life in the future."

Yet a notice issued by the Beijing municipal commission of education last week strictly forbids public primary and middle schools organizing any type of classes, winter camps or competitions related to school admission.

The notification also bans public schools from joining private training centers in organizing classes that give students a priority when they apply for a place at those schools. Students who attend such classes and pass the exam are often admitted by the middle school without taking its own entrance exam.

Despite the notice, insiders say extracurricular classes jointly organized by public schools and training centers over the winter holiday remain ubiquitous due to the educational system's exam-oriented approach.

Wang Yong, founder of an educational organization that offers winter and summer educational camps, told METRO that there are plenty of courses and admission-oriented classes held in the name of winter camps.

"They just use 'winter camp' as a disguise, but the content is the same - math, English and endless exams," said Wang, who refused to name the schools.

Ningning's mother said her daughter's teacher advises students to take extracurricular classes during winter holiday to get better prepared for the middle school entrance exams.

"I want to give her more free time, but the desire to get her admitted by a top middle school is even stronger so I send her to the training programs," she said.

A notice on the website of the training center which Ningning attends displays the enrollment for an Olympic mathematics winter camp along with the names of 200-some students that are participating.

A teacher surnamed Wang from the center's recruitment office said the winter camp is a combination of classes and contests for the Hualuogeng Olympic Mathematics Cup.

After four days of intensive closed-door instruction and two exams, students will participate in the contest by taking yet another exam at the end of the camp.

Wang said about 10 percent of the contestants will likely get a certificate that is widely recognized by top middle schools in Beijing, which often means a guarantee of acceptance by the schools.

Even competition to get into the program is fierce. Only 20 percent of more than 1,000 applicants were admitted after selection process, according to Wang. The cost of four-day program is 1,000 yuan or 1,800 yuan with accommodation.

An advocate for quality education, Wang believes family, society and school are all essential to a child's development.

Winter camps such as Outward Bound, and visiting prestigious universities and companies, are a very good way for children to learn from society, according to Wang.

More than 8 million children in the US attend various types of camps which offer activities ranging from sports and outdoor survival skills to singing and dancing, according to the American Camp Association.