Minister: Govt to further cut academic burden on primary, secondary students

Education authorities will continue to reduce the excessive academic workload on primary and secondary school students, Minister of Education Chen Baosheng said on Tuesday.

Both zero workload and excessive workload are harmful to students, and reducing the workload requires concerted efforts from the school, teachers, education authorities, parents and the society, Chen said on the sideline of the ongoing two sessions.

The school should follow the teaching syllabus and control the amount and difficulty of classes and homework and parents should form scientific parenting concepts and refrain from competing with others, Chen said.

The government should continue its reform on student enrollment, textbook and exams, he said, adding it should also work on bridging the gap between rural and urban education development.

Chen said around 270,000 after-school institutions, or 98.9 percent of the more than 273,000 establishments that had been found to be problematic, had completed rectifications.

In addition, 401,000 institutions had been assessed as part of a national campaign targeting unlicensed operators and extracurricular programs that put students under too much pressure, he said.

Some after-school institutions have moved their classes online to avoid government inspection, so the ministry will hold online institutions to the same standard as brick-and-mortar ones, he added.