Beijing, 30 Oct (Xinhua) -- Xinhua News Agency reporters Hu Hao and Zhou Chang
In July 2021, the Opinions on Further Reducing the Burden of Homework and Off-campus Training on Students in the Compulsory Education Stage were publicly released. Since the unprecedented "double reduction" policy was implemented in nearly 210,000 compulsory education schools across the country, from homework to off-campus training, from classroom teaching to after-school services, what changes has the "double reduction" brought to children's learning and life?
There are fewer repetitive homework, weekends and holidays of subject-based off-campus training classes have been stopped, and the feeling of exhaustion has been alleviated... After the "double reduction" policy landed, the atmosphere of some families has relaxed a lot.
On October 26, students at Weiyu Junior High School in Shanghai attended a class on celestial evolution. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ding Ting
"This eleventh holiday, with no training classes and a lot of homework, allows us to have time to do a lot of things with our children." Chen Yun, a parent of a fourth-grade student at a children's art school in Hefei, Anhui Province, said. During the holidays, she watched the movie "Chosin Lake" with her children, went to the library twice, and did a small survey of garbage sorting.
One of the important contents of the "double reduction" is to "comprehensively reduce the total amount and duration of operations." In order to strengthen the management of homework in compulsory education schools, the Ministry of Education has established a monitoring platform for the "double reduction" work of basic education, and directly conducted a questionnaire survey on homework management directly for schools and the public. Monitoring shows that by the end of October, the vast majority of students in 94.7% of schools had been able to complete their homework within the specified time.
There is less work, but the quality cannot be reduced; the time is short, but the effect cannot be reduced.
"To some extent, the 'double subtraction' policy has higher requirements for schools and teachers, and we must design the form and content of homework more scientifically." Jiang Ying, deputy director of the Academic Affairs Office of the Third Middle School in Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, said.
According to reports, Jiangxi Province is promoting "smart operations" throughout the province, using information means to achieve layered, flexible and personalized homework arrangements, eliminating mechanical, repetitive and ineffective operations, helping teachers and students in the compulsory education stage to optimize homework design and reduce the total amount of work.
At the Dijing Jinsong Branch of Chen Jinglun Middle School in Beijing, a reference sample of homework time was established through the investigation and data analysis of each grade at the beginning of the school year. Principal Liu Xuemei introduced that the school has unified design, unified arrangement, unified coordination and unified publicity for homework time to ensure scientific, effective and light burden. The design of the homework method emphasizes diversity, reducing some repetitive writing and adding some life experience, such as daily observation, hands-on practice, extended reading, etc.
Monitoring by the Ministry of Education shows that as of the end of October, 99.3% of the compulsory education schools in the country have introduced homework management measures, and 97.1% of schools have established a system of publicity of school work.
If you don't go to the training class, the total amount of homework is also controlled, where do the children go after class? In July this year, the Ministry of Education issued the "Notice on Further Improving the After-school Service Work of Compulsory Education", focusing on promoting the full coverage of after-school services "5+2" and requiring "one school, one case" to formulate an after-school service plan.
Starting from the new semester, after-school services have been further promoted in compulsory education schools across the country to solve the "three-and-a-half" problem of parents.
The Department of Education of Anhui Province requires that we adhere to the articulation after class, the complementarity between the school and the outside of the school, and the integration of online and offline, and develop and expand after-school service resources. Jilin Province has built a "1+X" multidimensional model of "static service + dynamic community".
Students play chess in the east area of Amber Primary School in Shushan District, Hefei, on October 29. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Chen Sanhu)
Li Xinyu, a fourth-grade student in Hefei, participated in the after-school hosting organized by the school this semester, "homework can be completed in the custody class, and then read books and practice words in the class."
According to the monitoring platform of the Ministry of Education, as of the end of October, 99% of the 143,000 compulsory education schools that should carry out after-school services (excluding boarding schools and small-scale schools in rural areas) have provided after-school services, with a student participation rate of 89.7%, of which more than 70% of students participate in the whole process 5 days a week, and the teacher participation rate is 89.8%.
"Although it is harder than before, I have more time with students, have a deeper understanding of students, and have a closer relationship between teachers and students." Zhou Chunling, a teacher at Huaqiao Middle School in Kunshan City, Jiangsu Province, said.
On October 29, students practiced chorus at Liyujiang Complete Primary School in Zixing City, Hunan Province. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Li Ke)
"Double subtraction" can be "reduced", and the key is that the quality of classroom teaching can be "increased".
The Ministry of Education issued the "Guidelines for the Evaluation of the Quality of Compulsory Education" to strengthen the guidance of scientific evaluation, and at the same time promote the comprehensive reform of basic education in various localities to stimulate the vitality of running schools. At the beginning of the school year in the autumn of this year, the Ministry of Education's Basic Education Teaching Steering Committee and various special committees have strengthened research and guidance for schools in different disciplines and fields, helped schools strengthen teaching and research, carefully prepared lessons, made up for teaching shortcomings, and strived to improve the efficiency of classroom teaching.
"The implementation of 'burden reduction and efficiency' at the classroom teaching level focuses on teachers' classroom time management capabilities, which is the fundamental way to improve the efficiency of classroom teaching." Tian Bingbing, principal of Chunhui Primary School in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, introduced that from the new semester of this autumn, Chunhui Primary School has introduced an intelligent assistance system to help teachers diagnose the classroom, whether the teacher's speech speed is appropriate, whether the question is effective, which period of time is less efficient, and the system will automatically generate a report after the end of the class, which is clear at a glance, which helps teachers optimize teaching behavior and makes school teaching and research more efficient.
Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province, has launched a teacher teaching competition throughout the city to stimulate teachers' enthusiasm and creativity and effectively improve the quality of classroom teaching. Zhejiang Province has carried out "bottom-up teaching and research" to help teachers teach every lesson well and teach every student well.
Students at Gaojin Primary School in Linquan Town, Qianxi City, Guizhou Province, practice tambourine on October 22. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Fan Hui)
Lu Yugang, director of the Department of Basic Education of the Ministry of Education, introduced that the next step will continue to adhere to the "burden reduction" and "quality improvement" of the two hands, so that teachers should teach as much as possible, students learn well; strictly balanced class classification, strict teaching requirements, strict homework regulation, strict examination management, and effectively solve the problem of parents' urgency and anxiety.
"Since the implementation of the 'double reduction' policy, the society has initially formed a consensus. Now, whether it's after school or on weekends, we've seen a change. Shao Shuguang, director of the Basic Education Department of the Anhui Provincial Department of Education, said that reversing the long-term formation of the concept is not overnight, but it will accumulate into more, from quantitative change to qualitative change, as long as the "double reduction" policy continues to be implemented, good results will be seen.
Source: Xinhua Net