China to reform student evaluation system

China will build a comprehensive evaluation system for primary and secondary school students and forbid rankings of students based on test scores to further reduce extracurricular academic burdens, Minister of Education Chen Baosheng said Friday.

The country should reform the current exam-oriented education system and prohibit sensationalizing top scorers in the college entrance exams, Chen said at a news conference on the sidelines of the ongoing annual two sessions.

"Although we have made achievements in reducing extracurricular burdens on students, they remain a top concern for parents and students," Chen said. "Reducing the burdens requires efforts from all sides."

Teachers should stick to the syllabus and not lure or coerce students to attend extra training classes, he said. "They cannot have any connection with these training institutions."

Parents also need to resist the temptation of the "philosophy of success" touted in advertisements sponsored by the training institutions, which is false and against children's healthy development, he added.

Last month, the Ministry of Education and other three ministries jointly issued a guideline to regulate after-school training institutions.

These training institutions cannot engage in training activities beyond the teaching syllabus. Nor can they organize graded examinations or conduct competitions for primary and secondary school students, according to the guideline.

The training results from these institutions cannot be used as criteria for future enrollment in primary and middle schools. "Teachers who force students to attend these institutions will be dealt with seriously, or even stripped of their teaching credentials," the guideline read.