"Minsheng Weekly" all-media reporter Luo Yan
Is it feasible to have ten years of compulsory education?
A stone stirs up a thousand layers of waves.
Recently, Yao Yang, president of the National Development Research Institute of Peking University, proposed in an interview with the media that "the middle school entrance examination is too early to divert the flow, and it is recommended that ten years of compulsory education be carried out", which triggered a discussion on the compulsory education system.
Yao Yang, President of the National Development Research Institute of Peking University
In fact, the proposal to extend the duration of compulsory education and to include upper secondary education in compulsory education has been put forward many times, but it has also met with many objections. The ten-year compulsory education proposed by Yao Yang this time is five years of primary school in terms of specific system design, the merger of junior high school and high school into five years, the consistent system from primary school to high school, and the abolition of the diversion of middle school entrance examinations and school choice, thereby reducing the pressure and burden of students.
As an economist, Yao Yang has always paid close attention to education, in his view, education is relatively easy to change, and can become a starting point for promoting economic and social change.
Minsheng Weekly: Nine-year compulsory education has been promoted and popularized throughout the country for 35 years, and has played a great role in improving the quality of the people, why do you propose to change the nine-year compulsory education to ten years?
Yao Yang: There are several reasons for this. First, nine-year compulsory education is no longer enough, because China has now entered an era of high-quality development, labor-intensive industries are becoming less and less, we not only need a lot of scientists, technicians, but also qualified industrial workers, only the implementation of nine-year compulsory education is not enough.
Second, China's higher education has now entered the stage of popularization, and the admission rate of the college entrance examination has exceeded 50%. This means that most of the children who can go to general high school can be admitted to undergraduate or junior college. But now in the middle school entrance examination diversion selection, according to the requirements of "the general staff is roughly equivalent", nearly half of the children can not go to the general high school. I think the diversion is premature, a fourteen or fifteen-year-old child, the fate of his life is decided at this time, at least he can no longer be a scientist, he will receive vocational education at most, and will become a senior blue-collar worker in the future. This is unreasonable, especially for boys. Because boys mature late, many boys only start to study well in high school, and their grades jump up.
Third, it is now 12 years of basic education, of which two years are wasted, one year to prepare for the middle school entrance examination, one year to prepare for the college entrance examination. That is to say, it does not take 12 years to learn, 10 years is enough, so that there is no need for diversion competition, and the learning pressure is small.
Minsheng Weekly: However, the pressure of the college entrance examination is still there, under the baton of the college entrance examination, can the pressure of the examination be reduced due to the change of the compulsory education system?
Yao Yang: Of course, the pressure of the college entrance examination is still there, and we have to admit it. I also don't advocate the cancellation of the college entrance examination, but at least we can alleviate the pressure of the middle school entrance examination. From elementary school to high school, a total of 10 years, not so much time, up to 3 months to review the exam.
Review exams are not productive, and no matter how well you do, you won't improve your child's abilities. In the review, you improve, and others also improve, but the college entrance examination quota is established. Last year's admission score was 500 points, this year it will become 505 points, and the next year may become 510 points, which will wash away all your efforts.
It is right to advocate burden reduction and teacher rotation now. However, the high school stage cannot be rotated, because the selection has begun at the high school level. However, if it becomes a ten-year consistent compulsory education, it can be rotated. Some people do not accept job rotation, saying that there are no good schools, but if it is compulsory education, there should be no distinction between good schools and bad schools.
Minsheng Weekly: Why can't there be a distinction between good schools and bad schools in the compulsory education stage?
Yao Yang: Many people have a deep-rooted elitist selection ideology, thinking that middle schools should be selected, which I think is not right. Secondary education is already the most basic education for a person to receive, then it should not be selected, all children should receive the same quality of education, which reflects the ideal of the ultimate goal of all-round human development.
I hope that eventually everyone will have a college education, but this is not possible yet because of limited financial resources and everyone has their own choices. But in modern society, there is no secondary education, entering society and talking to people is not clear, and the logic of thinking is not enough.
I once went to the factory to do a survey, when filling out the questionnaire, high school students came, 5 minutes to hand in the paper, eyes are shining, junior high school students on the wooden some, 10 minutes can fill out, primary school students can not even understand the questions. Education changes a person, it not only teaches children skills and knowledge, but also teaches a child how to become a complete person.
Practical skills can be learned in higher vocational or university, and the primary and secondary school stage is to help a child become a complete person, not to select and fight them. Now most children have been hit, key schools, ordinary schools, key classes, ordinary classes, all of a sudden the children are divided into three, six and nine and so on.
Minsheng Weekly: According to your research, what problems have arisen in the implementation of nine-year compulsory education?
Yao Yang: I think the biggest problem is wasteful learning. A child is so young that he is forced to brush up on the problem, he will hate learning, he will give up learning, so that a genius may be ruined.
For example, does it make sense to do chicken and rabbit cages in elementary school? In junior high school, you can solve it with equations. But now many elementary schools have to teach those things, saying that it is the development of intelligence.
Now the direction of the college entrance examination reform is right, the difficulty of the language has increased, and the difficulty of mathematics has decreased. I think English can be used as a reference score, and English tests are unfair to rural children.
Minsheng Weekly: Similar proposals to popularize high schools and extend the number of years of compulsory education have appeared many times, but there are many voices of opposition in the education sector.
Yao Yang: The main problem is the concept of education, which is opposed by the elitist culture in the bones of many people, who believe that good students should go to good schools, so they must be selected at the high school level.
Our imperial examination has been practiced for nearly 1500 years, and it has been in the selection process, and everyone has adapted to this mechanism, and the concept of selecting the best is deeply rooted in the bone marrow.
Under the elitist ideology, it is very difficult to reform, and some people may ask, what should I do if I can't finish learning? What if I'm not ready for college? In fact, these problems can be solved, and universities can run preparatory departments.
Minsheng Weekly: From the perspective of social development, is the time ripe to change the nine-year compulsory education to ten years?
Yao Yang: I think the time is ripe. Now two of the 12 years are wasted on brushing questions, and shortening the study time is not a problem.
That's how our generation came, when we studied for 10 years, then took the college entrance examination, and for a while it was changed to 9 years, and then to 10 years. Aren't we also talented? I didn't think there was anything missing.
Minsheng Weekly: Can you calculate the account, what will happen to the education funding after the extension? Can current government finances support this change?
Yao Yang: From a financial point of view, it is definitely a cost saving, because from 12 years of basic education to 10 years, saving two years, the funds that need to be spent will be reduced accordingly.
When we put forward common prosperity, the first thing we call for is the equalization of education, there is no educational fairness, and we talk about common prosperity. The most fundamental thing about common prosperity is to equip all people with the ability to earn a certain amount of income. At the primary and secondary school level, children are divided into three, six, nine, etc., and the subtext is that some children cannot have the ability to obtain a high income.
We should abolish the hierarchy of schools, there are no "all levels and types" of schools. After the change to ten years of compulsory education, the education funds are allocated at the provincial level, and each school is allocated exactly the same according to the students, so as to ensure that the children of those in rural schools and those who attend schools in the corners of the city have the same educational opportunities.
In fact, if there is no school hierarchy, teacher rotation will become easier, and it will be the same for every school.
Minsheng Weekly: Ten years of compulsory education is not a simple extension of time, it has included the popularization of high schools, can existing resources such as teachers and schools keep up? How to implement it in stages?
Yao Yang: Now even in rural areas, children will go to high school, but it is only the difference between general high school and vocational high school. The most critical problem is that the quality of vocational high schools is uneven, and vocational high schools in developed areas cooperate with factories, and students have no problems in learning and employment. There are very few factories in underdeveloped areas, and students can hardly learn much on the job.
However, it is very easy for us to change the vocational high school to the general high school, because the teachers are all college graduates, they have no problem in teaching the general high school, and the teaching high school is not good, because the teaching high school needs to understand the technology and send people in the factory. Therefore, the inclusion of vocational high school teachers is not a problem for high school teachers.
As for the implementation, I think we can do the same as reforms such as teacher rotation, first do the pilot, and let the provinces that are willing to do it try it first. In the implementation, it should be noted that the primary school to the high school system is consistent, do not choose a school.
Minsheng Weekly: For students, if compulsory education changes from nine years to ten years, will it increase or reduce the burden?
Yao Yang: Ten-year compulsory education is only one more year, but it has one more section of knowledge. Some students do not like to learn and may feel that the task is heavier. However, high school has a great influence on people and will make him a better person. When he becomes an adult, he will be grateful for the experience.
On the other hand, after nine years of compulsory education, the middle school entrance examination will be cancelled, and the competitive pressure on students will be much smaller. Coupled with teacher rotation, there will also be less meaningless competition between schools. In addition, in the training of teacher training students, it is necessary to instill new educational concepts in them, and we cannot only teach students knowledge to cope with examinations. In this way, compulsory education has been changed to ten years, although it has increased the study of knowledge, but it has reduced the pressure of learning and reduced the burden.
Minsheng Weekly: The change of the school system will trigger a series of changes in the education system, which reforms need to be promoted simultaneously? Can this kind of reform eliminate the inner volume of education?
Yao Yang: There are some reforms that need to be carried out simultaneously. For example, children are now in elementary school at the age of 6, and their minds are not yet mature. The original 6 years of primary school can turn the first year into a preschool class, so that children can slowly adapt to the school environment.
After graduating from high school, if the university feels that it is necessary to let students increase their preparation, they can run a one-year preparatory department, which can be run by themselves, or they can be entrusted to a middle school. At the same time, pushing vocational education a little further back into higher vocational education can also improve the social status of our future skilled workers.
In addition, the school is not divided into levels and categories, and the middle school entrance examination is not divided, and the burden on students can definitely be reduced. At that time, we stopped class revision for about 3 months before the exam, and there was not much pressure, and we all became talents.
Some people who are engaged in education think that social problems have become educational problems. But education is also a part of society, education itself is relatively easy to change, to change the social atmosphere, it takes decades or hundreds of years, and it needs a grip. Reforming the education system is a good starting point.
Now it is time to change our concepts, and we must fully realize the equalization of educational resources at the primary and secondary school stages, so that we can have a foundation for common prosperity, otherwise common prosperity is a castle in the air.
Producer: New Media Editorial Department of Minsheng Weekly (ID: msweekly).
The original article was published in the 19th issue of Minsheng Weekly magazine in 2021
Original title: Yao Yang, President of the National Development Research Institute of Peking University: Nine Years to Ten Years, Reduce Wasteful Learning"
□ Luo Yan, a reporter from Minsheng Weekly
Editor: Jiang Yuhan
Editor-in-Charge: Yeye Liu
Editor-in-Chief: Cui Jingfang
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