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Although it is true that the burden in terms of quantity of material students must study is not light, I think the more important thing is the nature and structure of the content and the method of teaching. We need to analyze not only the quantity of the burden but also the composition of the burden.
Human beings, irrespective of the age and the time, not only in modern society but also in traditional society, have always borne the burden of responsibility. In traditional society, people carried the heavy burden of traditional concepts and conventions, which have been reduced today. For example, in the old agricultural society, children of farmers -- except from the few well-to-do families -- had to take up financial burdens from the time they were very young. They looked after the cattle, cut wood, helped with the farming, etc. This is seen much less among children nowadays, especially in cities.
Rather than worrying about young people bearing burdens, the important and urgent thing is to analyze the nature of their current burdens, and to reflect on the shortcomings of our education system in this respect. We need to examine which burdens are too light, which burdens are reasonable, and which burdens are unreasonable. Only by analyzing these questions can we decide what to do after the burdens have been reduced.
In my opinion, the fundamental problem of China's education system now is a warped understanding of the purpose of study, of the concept of education and of ideas about human beings and society. These produce an unreasonable program of study.
Due to the historic lag in China's process of modernization, as well as the emphasis on economics and development that are prevalent in the modern world, these have taken precedence in the education system. China claims to focus on both the spiritual and material aspects of modernization, and emphasizes "overall development" of students as an educational goal.
However, in practice, there is an emphasis on some subjects while others are neglected. There is a pragmatic trend in education that stresses technology and examination scores. This results in a one-sided focus and also the mechanization of educational methods. The problem of middle and primary schools are therefore the over-emphasis on these points, and the imbalance in education.
As a result, students nowadays are bearing unprecedented burdens in terms of homework, revision, recitation and exams. On the other hand, students no longer share their families' financial burdens, nor are they expected to participate in practical problem solving. Our modern ideas about the purpose of education are one-sided and distorted. Solving this problem requires adjusting our fundamental ideas about people and society.
For example, middle school curriculums need to include an understanding of Chinese history and modern citizenship. Our middle school textbooks include little or no information about the disasters in modern Chinese history, such as the Cultural Revolution and the Anti-Rightist Movement. Today's middle school students hardly know what the Cultural Revolution was. They do not clearly and completely understand China's history and reality, and their "historical burden" is lacking to an unprecedented degree. They have virtually no sense of historical responsibility.
Our middle school courses don't include real education in modern citizenship either. What we have now is a superficial form of moral education. The consequence is that a college student still doesn't know what it means to be a citizen and what rights, obligations and responsibilities a citizen should have.
The superficial moral education gives students one-sided, pragmatic and unrealistic instructions, and the students can only passively follow them. In their hearts they never seriously consider these teachings. Although they don't publicly resist these instructions on how to behave, they don't take real moral responsibility in their lives either. As a result, they begin to suffer a kind of schizophrenia.
The consequence of a lack of education in citizenship is that students don't know what legal rights they have or what obligations they should bear.
While putting huge burdens of homework on our students' backs, we should not unload their responsibilities and obligations of citizenship, or they will become a generation with heavy bags but light minds.
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(Tao Dongfeng is a professor in the Chinese Department of Capital Normal University in Beijing. He is also editor-in-chief of the scholarly periodical "Culture Research." This article is translated and edited from the Chinese by UPI Asia Online. ©Copyright Tao Dongfeng.)
