Education in China [antikvár]

PREFACE My son is 19 years old and attends college now. His schooling can perhaps show how China's young generation is being educated. Like most children in cities, my son entered kindergarten when he was 2.5 years old. Since the kindergarten is fairly distant from home, a year later, day care became "complete care" -my son came home for weekends only. At the kindergarten, the children mainly played and did games. When the kids were five to six years old, the teachers began teaching simple arithmetics and Chinese language pinyin (alphabetic system of writing). As a result, children having attended a kindergarten would have a comparatively easy time when they take grade-one courses in a primary school. Children are required to attend schools close at home. My son spent six years in a primary school in the hutong (alley) where we live. Math and Chinese were the major courses. Other courses were English, nature, drawing, music and physical culture. After graduation from the primary school, he entered a middle school attached to a college. It is a good school. But his strong interest in the computer, cartoons, pop music, cars and sports attracted his attention from more academic courses, and his academic record was not impressive. Upon graduation from junior middle school, he applied to both a regular senior middle school and a vocational senior middle school for further studies. My train of thoughts ran as follows: If he was enrolled by a regular senior middle school, he could go on to a college, and that would be the best of prospects; if he had no option other than attending a vocational school, where he could leam CHINESE EDUCATION-Reforms and Innovations