We got a tour of an senior middle school here in Shantou last night. The school ranking is very important here. So when we were told we were going to tour the second best middle school in Shantou, we were ready to be impressed. Oh by the way, a senior middle school is the equivalent of Grades 10, 11 and 12. We were suitably impressed! Think of the campus as something like a small university, a nice one at that. This campus was the residential one so that about 3000 students lived in dormitories there all week and then they get to go home after their Saturday morning classes. Having Saturday classes is the norm here at this level. The ones in their last year would be studying very very hard for their university entrance exams coming up in June. The result of this all-important exam will determine the future of their family. No pressure!
We had a chance to talk to the kids in a scrum. Jackie, Gord and Don, of course, had big groups surrounding them. Mine was a bit smaller since you had to really get up close to realize I'm actually a foreigner, ha ha :) We asked the kids about their studies and would you believe it (we didn't) that they go right back to studying EVERY night after dinner. There are mandatory study classes from 7:00-10:30 p.m. where each class is monitored by 3 or 4 teachers who can help them with different subjects. You would have thought I was talking about aliens when I tried to tell them that kids in the West only studied when they had a test. They kept asking how much studying kids would do every night. Ha, EVERY night? I thought I studied hard when I was in school. It's nothing compared to these kids. They have no tv, Internet or the freedom to leave this rural campus since there is a gate with a guard manning it... it doesn't really matter as they have no free time. Sounds a bit like a jail but they are required to do this by their families who have placed their hopes and dreams onto their shoulders.
I keep telling them that I'm soooooo glad I wasn't a student in China :) J
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