Smart Kids' Cup, Middle Ring Cup, and the Asia Pacific Mathematical Olympiad for Primary Schools are three of the biggest local math competitions for primary school students in Shanghai. But, as of yesterday, it was announced that these contest will no longer be taking place in order to reduce "students' burdens".
Zoumei Cup, another major math competition, has yet to give an answer to the commission on whether or not they will be preceding with contests this year.
Many parents think that awards at these kind of competitions will help their children in the future when applying to private middle schools, forcing them to study both after school and on the weekend to prepare for such contests.
However, both parents and teachers are beginning to accept the idea of releasing pressure off students.
The commission's deputy director of the education department also said that local schools will not be allowing students to participate in competitions unless they have approval from authorities.
In addition, the education board has made a policy in which schools will not be able to use award certificates or test papers as an admission requirement. Other plans to reduce students' stress include schools being banned from giving exams within the first two weeks of the new semester (as of tomorrow) and from giving any student rankings.
Teachers will also not be allowed to charge students for extra lessons given inside or outside the school or encourage students to go to cramming schools. If teachers break any of the new rules, their history will be recorded which may affect future promotions and assessments.
[Image via Shanghai Daily]
