Nine News
A few days ago, the Ministry of Education announced the list of experimental areas and experimental schools for compulsory education teaching reform.
Jiangsu has two districts on the list: Wujiang District of Suzhou City and Xuanwu District of Nanjing City. At the same time, there are rumors on the Internet that the basic education system in the two districts will be changed from 12 years to 9 years, that is, 4 years of elementary school, 3 years of junior high school, and 2 years of high school.
In response to the above rumors, on January 5, the relevant person in charge of the Education Bureau of Xuanwu District, Nanjing City, told the Yangtze Evening News that the news of the shortening of the school system on the Internet was false.
On January 5, 2024, in Fengmingshan Primary School, Shapingba District, Chongqing, students are practicing Xi Chinese painting in the Happy School. Source: VCG
Coincidentally, similar rumors have appeared in Guangzhou recently.
"4 years of primary school + 3 years of junior high school + 2 years of high school? According to Guangzhou Daily, some schools that have been selected for the public list of experimental schools for compulsory education teaching reform said: This is a rumor.
Jiupai News reporters searched and found that it is not the first time that rumors of "shortening the school system" have appeared. In 2021, similar rumors appeared in Shenzhen, Sichuan, Zhejiang, Tongling, Anhui and other places, and local education departments have made targeted refutations of rumors.
In October 2021, the Ministry of Education announced the first batch of "Experimental Areas for Comprehensive Reform of Basic Education", and some self-media fabricated rumors that "the school system will be shortened, and 9 years from primary school to high school will be completed" spread on the Internet.
Jiupai News reporters learned that the reform tasks of the "Basic Education Comprehensive Reform Experimental Zone" include 22 actions such as optimizing the layout of urban and rural schools, improving the ability of principals, reforming the high school entrance examination, and integrating vocational education, but it does not contain any content related to "shortening the school system".
This time, Nanjing, Guangzhou, and other cities once again appeared in the rumors of "shortening the school system", and the initiator relied on the name of the Ministry of Education to publicize the "list of experimental areas and experimental schools for compulsory education teaching reform".
According to the documents obtained by Jiupai News from authoritative sources, the work tasks of the experimental area include seven aspects, including regional curriculum planning and implementation management, overall promotion of regional teaching reform, and improvement of regional education and teaching evaluation, all of which have nothing to do with "shortening the school system".
On January 5, 2024, in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, students of the clay sculpture club of Etuoke Qianqi No. 2 Primary School experienced clay sculpture making skills in the Xi. Source: VCG
According to documents released by the Ministry of Education, the "shortening of the school system" has indeed been proposed as an opinion, and the Ministry of Education has also given explanations and responses.
The Ministry of Education's response pointed out that the current "six years of primary school, three years of junior high school, and three years of high school" is basically in line with the laws of children's physiological and psychological development, education and teaching, and the mainland's national conditions. The basic education system in major developed and developing countries in the world is basically about 12 years, such as the United States, Japan, France, and India for 12 years, Germany and the United Kingdom for 13 years, and Russia for 11 years.
On January 4, 2024, students from Yincheng No. 2 Primary School in Dexing City, Shangrao, Jiangxi Province, visited the programming model of the space station of the Xi Aerospace series. Source: VCG
The Ministry of Education pointed out that the shortening of the primary and secondary school system is of great importance and requires more adequate scientific research and demonstration. At the same time, the length of the school system is determined by law, and even if the reform of shortening the school system of primary and secondary schools is carried out, it will need to be determined by the National People's Congress revising the relevant laws.
Source: Jiupai News
Reporter: Zhou Weiran