China Banned Private Tutoring in an Exam Crazy Nation | Gen 跟 China
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- Опубликовано: 27 апр 2022
- In July 2021, the Chinese Communist Party announced new regulations that they said would reduce pressure on parents and children, known as the double reduction policy. The new law banned private education companies from offering after-school tutoring in core school subjects.
Chinese students and parents view good academic performance as a way to climb the country’s social ladder, with a child’s studies often being prioritised above all else and exam pressure taking a toll on mental health.
The new policy brought to heel China’s ballooning USD 120 billion private tutoring sector, but the policy change has led to a tutoring black market, which could benefit the wealthy and price out poorer families.
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Think of all the talent lost and squandered when you force kids to study like that 24/7. How would anyone be able to foster a talent for music, art, athletics, etc. if they’re forced to spend all their time on school? Such a shame and such a waste of potential. Not to mention the lack of social skills these kids probably have. When you stare at a book for hours instead of interacting with your peers at such a critical period of their life how could you ever learn to interact well with others. Such a shame
such well said!
The social skill aspect hits hard. Even when my parents moved to the US my dad went and found a weekend school to send me to study more Chinese and then would drag me to a Chinese oriented "church" or whatever where they'd have classes that went on from the afternoon to 12AM-1AM. I didn't have any time to interact or hang out with friends I made in regular weekday school outside of school hours because I'd just be dragged out an hour later to go to classes I honestly felt like was a waste of time and money. I pretty much carried my folder and notebooks with my weekend & weekday classes around everywhere I went so I could finish them, whether it be during a car ride or eating out.
After I hit college I realized I couldn't hold a normal conversation with people b/c I couldn't think of anything to say. Like my mind would go on a blank because I didn't know how to interact with people since my brain was constantly on a "oh no I have this due tomorrow. I gotta study for this. etc etc" for years. My parents also sent me to counseling and multiple therapists & psychiatrists from elementary through highschool where they fixed me up with mirtazapine pills to fix my "oh she doesn't like talking to people" attitude.
It's kinda embarrassing to say but I have to search up how to be socially competent & stare at people interacting with one another since the only thing I knew how to do was study. Even now I need a "script" rehearsed in my head so I can talk to people normally. If a topic goes off the script I have then I tend to go back into turtle mode. I honestly think my parents just wanted the best for me, but they just didn't know how to go about it & were kinda oblivious to everything they did (like telling my doctor I got no friends when them dragging me to weekend school didn't help lol..), thinking it's the best for their kid cuz they grew up like that ☺
It’s called culture, and it’s a good thing, that’s why we asians get a better income than you.
@@bobsmodels123 this culture will only harm us asians in the long run. Theres a reason why us asians are seen as little work elves in the workforce
@@bobsmodels123 also another reason why asians take their own lives for the better
I worked as an online ESL tutor for 4 years and I always just tried to give my students 25 minutes of unconditional positive reinforcement with gentle correction and it shocked me how quickly they would latch on to any kind of tenderness or loving support. Some of them cried bitterly when we had to say goodbye permanently. 😩
oh bless students who work too hard :/ its nice to see you giving unconditional love to them
I wish I'll some day get a mentor like you. Also i have seen the exact opposite how teachers at my school never miss a single opportunity to bring us down and to make sure that we feel worthless by telling us how dark our future is🙊 and it really snatched away all the motivation and excitement i had regarding academics. So yeah...just waiting for that day💁♀️
I was also an online ESL tutor and the children would always doze off during lessons and some were just exhausted. I always felt sorry for them
how sad
good job showlng them warmth :)
they will be very ashamed of this stupidity they were doing after they meet up in future.
As a gen z Chinese who experienced part of the Chinese educations first hand, I can say that the problem is the schools giving too much materials for students to study in a short period of time, the normal class time just simply not enough for teachers to cover all the topics and in depth, as well as students learning the materials efficiently, private tutors are literally essential if you even want to pass the exams with a 60/100, without any tutoring that cost extra money outside of school tuition, you literally cannot pass at all, when I was back in China my parents didn’t let me take any private tutoring class outside of school time, I was literally failing every single class but English class😂 I really thought that I was stupid and that school is simply not for me, at that time I was planning to settle with going to a trade school to learn a skill instead of going to high school. Until I came to America, I realized I am really one of the smartest kid in the whole high school, and now I’m a junior engineering student which is something I could never imagine I’d do if I were still living in China.
So if every kid starts failing across the country, they will have no choice but to change the curriculum or teaching style or times. Hopefully it results in less pressure and more free time for the children but also keeps the same level of education standards. They just need to be more efficient and less homework just for sake of homework.
Knowing information doesn't make anyone smarter than they already are though.
Happened to me as a kid in Europe too. In elementary school my parents did not tutor me like my classmates so I had to be really attentive in class and I struggled a lot. The teacher legit thought I was more than a little dumb. In middle school and high school I was breezing without much effort, all thanks to the hard study I did on my own. When I went to college I had to change method of studying again since computer science had so many maths and physics classes (that were not really taught well in the kind of high school I went to. By sheer will and determination I got a degree.
Hey we have the same problem in India, specially in 11th and 12th.
@@o0...957 JEE race is on another level.
Once a kid starts thinking that the only thing important In life is grades they’ll be carrying that mindset to the grave. And when they grow into an adult, they’ll look back and realise they have spent half of their lives doing something that can't even guarantee them a ever lasting life.
Well, here's the thing. This exam that they do, the University entrance exam changes lives... China has a large population, many of whom come from poor backgrounds. This exam will determine whether they become garbage collectors/ low pay workers or get high paying jobs so although this whole environment is incredibly toxic that's just what life is like there. When they look back, they'll see that their commitment and dedication put them where they are at in terms of their jobs, income and social status. This may not be the case in many countries, but here in China, they're fighting for their lives and future.
That comment started off making sense but the 2nd part is too wide and varied to be a sure thing. Then again, so easily slipping out of the middle class is not a reality in a lot of places the west call home.
Unlike the West, Asia has too many people living with limited resource available thus competition bounds to be more fierce. It's simply hard not to ignore this reality because otherwise, you become a loser. Hence, why many people in Asia still immigrate to US for more opportunities.
Way to call me out bro
They have nothing? Many have high eaning careers that affords them upper middle class lifestyles and a the ability to raise a family that lacks for nothing material. You are delusion@l
I'm from an African country and due to the pressure of exams for each entry level , the government has changed the whole education system to encourage more practical based achievements more than theory. And for a change I am glad.
What country are you from?
I'm glad I found this comment I'm from Africa too and in our country especially high school we go to class at 5 am and sleep around 10 to 11pm
African nations are known for the same high level pressure on education. But Western media have low interest in African topics and have a facisnation for Asia because Asia is very populair in the eyes of the West
@@dylandylantoriyama5370 honestly. My cousins got through the same thing and it’s worse cos they’re in prestigious schools. 😩
@@MB-nb7yq I go to private school in Zimbabwe and for me what makes it difficult is that not only do u have to be good at academics but u have to do (at my school) 2 or more sports and 1 or more clubs and expectations are obviously to compete and win at a national or international level which takes so much effort along with trying to get A's in about 10 subjects
Never in my life did I think I'd ever see someone, who just because they did tutoring, would need to have their face censored in a documentary, like some gangster spilling secrets of the underworld.
And my issue with China just banning things like tutoring is that it doesn't change much. The problem isn't excessive studying, it's the difficultly of exams that calls for students and parents to push this hard. And that's obviously not going down. If students study less and then start performing worse in the exams that define the lives, how exactly were they helped? Less tutoring also won't stop parents forcing their kids to study when at home or the students themselves spending more time and effort, not to mention experiencing more stress, to understand what their struggling with. So in the end the government just gets to look good because they're promoting less studying. But students continue to suffer.
Edit: someone in the comments mentioned how teachers could hold private lessons at night. So they'd abuse this by not teaching the material properly during class. In this case banning tutoring is for the best. This really is such a complex issue.
Plus where my family lives, schools started giving less hw, so parents are more panicked. To solve this problem you'll need 高考 reform
@@hwong1776 How are the students performing? Has that helped in anyway? If they're doing less pointless work that teachers sometimes like to give as homework, then I can see that being a good thing since students have extra time to rest or focus on what will actually be in exams.
The study material should decrease
@@israshalim9111 yep
Indeed!
China created standardised exam 3000 years ago so this is their ingrained cultural identity. It's good that they still practice their culture, but back then only nobles and certain talented commoners study to take part in politics. Now everyone is expected to gain high level eventhough they only work as office workers...Not everyone is able or talented in acedemia, there's no point forcing if your brain is just not that good at it.
Took exams so seriously that a punishment for cheating was death.
India too
"If you think you aren't capable then you won't be able to get good at it" - It is really true. But I would also state that interests plays a big role in what you want to learn.
Go tell that to parents haha
The point is putting kids in development through these strenuous routines and burning them out has demonstrable health and cognitive impacts. Even burn out in adults has these enduring adverse effects.
China is really crazy competitive. I had 2 encounters with mothers scolding their children for simple things.
1) Child did not straighten his hands when feeding the horses at the farm. Mum went ballistic and compared the child to other children who straightened their hands?!
2) Child did not want to attempt water slide due to fear. Mum went ballistic the child was timid.
Its not just study. These mums literally want their child to be PERFECT in all ways.
what? i've never had these encounters and i'm chinese myself and my parents as well as my relatives are even more spoiling their children? (not my parents, but my aunt)
@@melxdiq842 jesus christ chinese people are too immature and bullies more that USA People
What the hell is that mom even thinking
@@melxdiq842 are you chinese
@@melxdiq842 well lucky u
i can attest to this
My friend was educated in China, she had no life beyond studying before the age of 18 , she'd leave school at 10pm and study until midnight or 1 am everyday , it was beyond cruel
That's the reason why China is a science and technology superpower. 🤓👍
@@AI_HQ Also why the population rate is declining so fast! 👍 No one has time for a social life and then you wonder why many people in china are seen as heartless.
@@AI_HQ They are also one of the least happy and free nations.
@@AI_HQ only bc of all the forced labor. The US is 1/3 of China population wise and is still a superpower in science and technology and is miles ahead of innovation. A freer society is actually more innovative.
@@bunnywavyxx9524 Reckless, cowboy America has more than 200 years of trial and error under its belt, having suffered only minimally from political, military and social disruptions. The US is a well-managed slave population with white people at the top of the slave heap and all non-whites fighting for 2nd seat at the table. Foreign policy enforced by wanton military intervention has guaranteed America, as it did Great Britain, access to talent from around the world (America always loves to boast about "brain drain,") the use of educated immigrants and students to pad the American labor force of minimally, low-IQ whites and marginalized non-whites. American success since WWII is due more to serendipity than to anything else.
A note about forced labor: America is the land of credit card debt, and wages stagnant since the late 1960s. American citizens are in debt up to their necks with no way out in sight. Wage slaves with no way out of the dilemma, like crabs in a bucket. Real Estate prices and energy prices act like Damocles Daggers over the heads of most Americans.
True story from a Chinese student.
"my teacher forced us to pay for evening classes with her. If we didn't we were ridiculed. She didn't teach us the material in the day, at a state school, in order to force us to pay her money for private lessons. I was ridiculed for three years because I refused her."
I went to a Myanmar public school and it is the same here. But I should add that I got (indirectly) ridiculed by not just class teachers but top students from the school (since they got to the top thanks to those teachers giving exam hints) until high school started
That is why we Chinese need to stop this unhealthy system
@@anqiwu4781 yes. I said it two years ago but chinese people, in china, just laughed at me. You are prisoners. You have no freedom. Let's see what you can do about it. or is it too late?
Many teachers abuse this system of tuition
@@aircloud1795 it's disgusting, deplorable, debase, unconscionable, but hey, that's china
I think people that are dissing these on China itself are missing the target, this culture is true of most asian or confucian influenced country and culture. Japan, South Korea, India, China, Singapore, you name it, they are all obsessed with Pre U exams or education in general. Education is believe to be major factor of escaping poverty and class mobility and they do have a point. As technology keeps improving, the amount of knowledge to consider average keeps increasing, you need to know more just to be on the world average.
its basically the whole asia that have this high obsession with grades its a shame I've heard from south Korea to India how difficult and how they literally put their life on the line for these exams, its sad i wish education was more to do with learning and discovering new things. its becoming so depressing for me to constantly do exams and pass (I do a levels in the UK so i understand the difficulties) I just wish we had a new education system and not a 10,000 year old one.
And yet Western education manages to outperform these students on almost every level besides hardcore math. The problem is efficiency. I worked in a Chinese school, and the amount of structure and quality of education outside of rote memorization is very low. There is little to no enthusiasm or engagement with the material allowed in classes, it's just putting your head down, shutting up, and trying to absorb gobs of information while underslept and socially desolate. Introducing opportunities for sociability, prioritizing sleep, and allowing children a modicum of creative expression is going to have far better returns than just stacking facts on top of each other in their adolescent brains.
@@Amoore-vv9wx that’s not true 😭
They top in their country. On a global stage, Chinese students are average to slightly below average. This isn’t because they’re stupid or incompetent - it’s the way their education system is structured. The knowledge is trivial, the subjects are incomplete. It’s not based on knowledge application, but rather, memorization.
Western education tends to be more advanced because it was created to do just that. The Chinese education system was created to weed out the best within it but creating trivial knowledge. The U.S. system was created to standardized and then allow the pursuit of non-standard education.
Even with hardcore math, you’ll get weird situations where they’re learning 1st year university math in their penultimate year alongside things the average American student learned in their 8th or 9th year of education.
It’s incredibly irregular and hard to build upon outside of the convoluted school system. It is built on memorization. American and Singaporean students have the best mathematical foundation, Chinese and Indian students progress to concepts the same as or slightly higher than these students by the end of their formal education as minors, Americans who pursue STEM are likely to surpass them due to foundational knowledge and general education being a priority in American universities.
The Chinese school system is irredeemable. It’s only there to attempt to analyze and categorize a massive population. The schools need to upsize to accommodate more students and focus on making well-rounded students that turn into productive and progressive adults rather than mentally ill encyclopedias.
There’s so many typos in this, just try to read around it, I had a full day of examinations 😭
@@Amoore-vv9wx it wasn’t rambling - you lack reading comprehension. And for those PISA stats there are a thousand more that disprove them (especially as the success of a school system in all facets can not simply be quantified).
I can tell very easily that you read nothing as I stated two ranking systems within my response. China is not one that holds up. The system is terrible. It attempts to allot minimal opportunity to an extremely large population unsuccessfully.
@@Amoore-vv9wx oh, and the person you replied to has stated they work in a Chinese school and implied they have done their education or worked in Western schools. I will take their words and the multitude of sources that disprove your point than I will take a set of stats and a random commenter at face value.
seems a lot of people don't know why government banned private tutoring. It's for the student equality. Poor students have no ways of accessing private tutoring while their rich counterparts have huge resources. As a result, those rich kids have much higher chance to enter top universities. Look at the situations in the US right now, rich kids can just buy into the college.
I mean, you can always get a part-time job to fund private tutoring, but of course, there is absolutely no way around poverty, nup...
Also, it's not like we have the internet, or anything else...
And it's definitely not like some teachers are terrible enough at teaching that sometimes it's just better to get a private tutor...
Ideally, yes, the government would be doing something to support poor people's children and maybe help fund their additional tutoring, or something... but no, they figured this was a better solution.
What they should be doing is making the exams more manageable, making sure all students are capable of learning in the school environment and that teachers can teach, rather than taking it out on the tutors who make money in ways that aren't really harming anyone. And considering this one girl's tutor added over 46% to her tutees' grade it tells me that it really shouldn't be the tutors that should be getting punished, even though that's what is happening.
Yes, it got explained why the government is doing so, but it really is a terrible solution nevertheless.
@@js66613 that's true, but the rich kids don't have to put in that extra work. Besides, looking at how much they have to study, I doubt they'd have time to put into part-time jobs. And even if they could, I don't think they'd make enough.
@@js66613 so people who pay get an advantage, hahahahhahahahah.
@@js66613 There is no way a regular Chinese high school student could get a part-time job. The school starts at about 6am and ends at 10pm, the homework takes up the whole weekend.
Honestly as a student in china (not in the public school system but going through the international college pipeline, though both are quite similar) I can say that it wouldn't make too much of a difference. Tutoring is really, really hard to monitor, and in most cases parents would just rehire the teachers privately. My mom's just pissed because it'll be easier to get scammed lol. In my personal experience none of the classes I took was effected, even before we went under lockdown again and I had to go to the actual classrooms. It's a bit funny actually: there's someone who would tip the people in our building before the police did an unannounced checkup and we had to evacuate and take the stairwell to the floor above😂 It's one of the largest agencies in Shanghai; literally they would refuse to lose money from this
As a person who still has PTSD nightmares from the stress of the exam system, even after 15 years. I have to say that the problem is not private tutoring. The problem is Gao Kao. Private tutors are just symptoms of the underlying problem
accurate comment for those who don't understand the system
What’s Gao Kao?
@@dfern1280 its like SAT but only one chance
@@adma5807 You can retake the gaokao if you fail it
@@MS-ly4mx Maybe your parents can afford it while MOST CANT
While I was studying in China, I once went to a McDonald's with friends at around 4am on a Thursday, and I found groups of college kids studying and doing projects. This is so normalized.
Also normalized in in America
This is also normalised in other asian countries too like Singapore, Hongkong and Korea. Students camping in the airport or macs during exam season, students coming home at 2am after hagwon lessons are seen as 'hardworking'. I didn't join such groups but was just mugging at home alone till 4am :') sometimes I still get nightmares about tests lol
@@hwanggummy5018 what is hagwon?
@@claire4212 they're after-school academies, sorta like private tutoring centres for kids to enroll in outside of schooling hours
@@hwanggummy5018 oh so like cram school?
As an educator in China, I am very curious about the true motivation behind this.
Because they’re still not accepting that kids have learning disabilities. And the local stream schools are way too populated in each classroom. Ideally you would have two teachers, or at least an assistant teacher, per classroom of 25 kids. In the local stream schools there can be like 40 or 50 kids in one classroom with only one teacher.
So then there are private tutors that are put into place, what’s ironic is that they’re now ordering schools to have teachers work overtime by providing these extra evening classes.
💀 after going through schools in china and the west, Chinese kidd are saints in the classroom
Are there government pensions for the elderly in China? I've seen this same kind of parental pressure in other Asian countries and it seemed like one of the reasons was because if their children couldn't support them when they got too old to work, no one would. I think that's the reason parents are desperate for their children to become rich and also the reason why most young people see getting married and having kids as an absolutely unavoidable matter of survival. And the more kids you have the more likely that one will make it and be able to take care of the now enormous family.
@@Chris-ls7fd Except that concept died 40 years ago from the time of the One Child Policy in China, now the government wants at least 3 but there is no money in the social programs or social structure to support it. It is a pipe dream, either get in party line and grift or succeed at university and somehow not end up doing a 996 job your whole life.
@@WhatWillYouFind Yes very true. China is definitely an interesting exception. No pension & you're only permitted one child to support you when you're old. The response seemed to be only birth boys with higher earning potential. As we see time and again though humans are pretty irrational and even though the one child policy makes perfect sense when governments asks to much of their people the general response is to resist. The USA has been trying there best to socially condition through reverse psychology but that seems to have back fired too. Americans feel hard done by (mostly due to sensationalist, profit driven media) and some are basically ready for a civil war over wearing masks. Humanity is more than likely doomed to quick & suitably hilarious suicide. Sad for us but probably better for the universe.
@@WhatWillYouFind : Isn't it weird that there are so many people who has been to universities in China, and yet, the total of that 996 life is like burning out an entire generation? You would think that somebody would've been able to design a better work life balance. Huh... I DO wonder... how many educators ARE teaching like FUTURISTIC things?! I bet not many. Why did they not designed and educated the next generation to take things slow ?
In Europe and in the UK, kids are taught relevance like how to survive in the city that they live in. So how come many kids do not get to learn how to deal with 996 ? I once saw a student in the UK buying baby powder to eat... This scene upsetted me so much. I realised that either she does not trust the food that is sold, or that, she is not, or doesn't know how to even deal with contaminated food either. She bought quite a few baby powder, cos she must've thought that it is full of nutrients and vitamins and things. I almost wanted to speak to her, about telling her that she could've gotten an adult supplement, or something. But I thought that might've scared her.... I now realised why so many women do these "recommendation" thing.. and is not able to differentiate between something.... Like, they won't have the basic knowledge somehow.
Sounds like self destruction
I hope the pressure on both parents and child will get relieved and a healthy environment, not only, in china but also in other parts of world will be created. Education should be made a fun way to learn and explore,not a life death situation for someone.
No. You’re trying to Americanize them. This habit is the reason asian Americans are the most successful group of people in America.
@@HEARTNHUSTLESTUDIOS resting is an American thing now??
@@HEARTNHUSTLESTUDIOS Most successful how? and at what?Success comes in MANY forms.
Well...
@@HEARTNHUSTLESTUDIOS You are such an ignorant snowflake aren't ya
This is what happened when we put too much value in grades and GPA. There is more to learning than just memorising and taking standardisation testing to prove that we are good enough. Studying in a uni in Hong Kong, I certainly had moments where I placed my value in my grades and really fear that I was not good enough and would fail in life. I am not naturally good in memorising, so final examination is always so stressful for me since it has huge percentage towards the grade and usually involve one semester worth of material. I wish learning is more on trials and error, experience and hands on learning rather than just training our brain to memorise in the most effective way.
Please, suggest another way to equally and fairly assess 1.4 billion people.
@@EdwinaSY the problem isn't with how they assess people. The problem is that the grades are the only avenue to upward mobility. China has become a very rich country and there is no reason why they can't build more universities or vocational schools. I live in the US where there is a lot less pressure on children because we have more university seats available than students that want to fill them. Also, higher education isn't the only path to upward mobility.
@@oasisstoma6176 don't get me started on the US education system and costs lol.
@@EdwinaSY For Chinese people US education poses and alternative but not vice versa. I think this in itself tells something.
@@EdwinaSY yes it's true that the US higher education system has become more expensive because the government likes to increasingly spend more money on dumb things like wars and military, and reduce funding for things like universities. But China doesn't have that problem so it shouldn't matter for them.
Never in my life i would’ve thought that my parents would be the same. My mom stopped me from pursuing business in 11th grade and forced me to study medicals instead, she didn’t allow me to play basketball because according to her these ‘silly things’ are a distraction and only educational qualification is going to help me. I don’t even have a personal phone because again my parents think it’s a distraction and that my world revolves around nothing. I’ve developed anxiety, anger issues, lack of self confidence over the past two years because of these things.
Parents should try and listen to their kids before it’s too late
All I know is that I taught at Princeton University while I was working on my PhD and in those 8 years, I saw a huge decline not only in discipline but aptitude. But, I don't think it had anything to do with standardized testing. Rather, the more students knew their parents would complain obscenely if they received a B in a class and get the grade changed because it's plain easier than dealing with them, the more students could not be bothered to learn. Frankly, I just gave them all A's. It's not worth fighting over with these parents. There are still students who want to learn. They are mostly from poorer households. I never stopped teaching my best because of them, also as the first person in my family to ever attend college and an Indigenous person it has never felt right to phone it in.
Just a perspective from the trenches of academia.
Great perspective!! I'm a High School upperclassmen from the US (competitive public school), and the parents run the grades here. My first year teacher described the parents as the "squeaky wheel." If they complain loud enough, their kids get what they want. I will be the first in my family to ever attend university as well, but often I feel pressured because I have no other option. My family cannot support me financially, and even if they could, I would feel ashamed to depend on my parents who have already worked so hard for their entire lives. There are many different motives and backgrounds in the realm of academia, so I think you brought a valuable perspective to the discussion. 🙏
So you admit to defrauding your employees by giving their children fake grades?
I actually failed a class in university purposely just to see how it felt! I lived life before in anxiety and trying to always be perfect and controlled in my approach. After failing and seeing that my life wasn't ruined by it I felt more free and confident! My identity/happiness is more than scores or achievements, it is based on who I am as a person as a whole. Education is an amazing thing and great for everyone! But a life spent doing busy-work, worrying, and living is stress (especially for children) will never lead us to living healthier and more fulfilled lives. Peace and Love ✌️🤟🌈
My dad were Chinese and my mom is french, I do born in Guangzhou and live there for 11 years, it's true, it's very normal for teacher to punish student physically by using wodden rulers, cane, belts and sometimes they throw the chalk wodden eraser to you head or face, my mom didn't know this until I tell her when I was 10 yo, she march with rage to the school but everyone there look at her like she was an insane person, she later escort out by security, my dad argue with mom telling her this is normal but mom refuse to hear it and calling it child abuse, we move to France shortly but dad refuse to come so mom decided to get divorced, been living here at Marseille ever since and never been happier, it's cruel what they did to children and young adults there but I guess it's part of their culture.
And parents (not just in China), as they grow older, wonder why their children resent them and don't want to take care of them.
I totally understand, and to prevent people from not contacting and supporting their elderly parents (not really elder, just above retirement age), the Chinese government under the civil code summarised basically noted that if your parents have not purposely hurt you (abuse, neglect or sold you away), or were a part upbringing (child lost and found, or biological parents etc) as determined by court you’ll have to take care of you parents emotional and mental well-being as well as making sure they have enough resources to continue living the same standard of life before retirement. The same is true for your grandchildren, eg if you grew up with your grandparents, and have reached adulthood and have gotten a stable source of income then whatever excess (more than required to live) needed to be used to help your grandparents. Not sure if similar laws apply elsewhere because I find it pretty unique.
Parents push us children harder because they want us to be successful in life. It's not like they are going to take your education/successful job with them to their grave. Sometimes they push us hard but what else are you supposed to do when you are poor?
@@prantikchakraborty8052 but bish not on the cost of ur whole childhood and we want skills not memories
@@prantikchakraborty8052 i understand from your pov. Maybe the way your parents strictness with u is suitable and beneficial for your personality. But some of us, the degree of ‘punishment’ i received as a child is full blown manipulation from my mom. My mom would literally say, I should’ve killed you when you’re born just because I refuse to wear the cloth she choose for me. She is getting better but I’m still depressed and suicidal. For some of us, it’s like living in hell forever.
@@Jason-wp2nq "making sure they have enough resources to continue living the same standard of life before retirement"... This is impossible. How can one child, and the majority of Chinese have only one, take care of several elderly relatives meanwhile being expected to take care of his own new family? For most people this is mathematically impossible and a recipe for disaster.
East Asia seriously needs to rethink their education system. Their emphasis on academic performance is just too extreme. And I already thought we had it bad in the west 💀
lmao if you think it's bad in East Asia you shouldn't come to south Asia with 1.5 million completing for 40,000 seats
Have you been to india....
Even for simple jobs... there need high level of aptitude, reasoning maths test ....
Have you ever been in india, people literally comits su**de because of pressure.
Fully agreed with their extreme pressured exams and higher education style China and Korea supposed to create far superior Covid vaccine and far superior batteries and computers etc but the their final results today are just opposite.
It's bad everywhere, your ivy league schools have 40% admission not based on merits but familial influence while ours has irrevelant academic examinations that test endurance rather than practical knowledge.
The competition to get admitted into one of the best colleges/universities after high school is a very real thing in East Asian countries-more specifically in South Korea, Japan, and China. The immense academic pressure that these students constantly face are set at an all-time high. As for my country, the Philippines, the pressure to get into one of the best schools isn’t that immense (if you know what I’m saying). As students, we normally study at our own pace, which is good, considering the fact that we do have lives outside of school that we also need to prioritize in a given week or day. Man, I couldn’t imagine myself being a Chinese student. Like I’m just a pretty average student myself, so I don’t think I would ever fit their high academic standards.
Yeah it's also a big thing in india and other South asian countries.
It's big in the middle-east and Africa too. Egypt, and many Arab countries but especially Egypt have alot of students suicides too caused by that. Unfortunately, these types of ways should be banned.
I was 11th and 12th standard science students in india 13 yrs back.worst days of my life.I had 8 private tuition after school then homework,projects.I was weak in physics so had two private tuition for it.I was very good in math,again 2 tuition. 6 subjects 8 tuitions oh I forgot Extra class I took for Engineering entrance exam.I don't want my kids went through it.
@@SatabdiKundu07 What are you doing now?
"If you know what I am saying". How would random people in the youtube know what you are saying?
I used to work in Chinese tutoring company. It was the most corrupt industry filled with bribes and scams. PSB was making huge money in bribes and everyone was on it. I'm glad they shut it down.
so much for 'collectivist culture'
I attended elementary school in china before my parents emigrated. I remember in grade 4, our teacher told us to get our parents to sign us up for weekend tutoring classes at the school (for additional fee) if we wanted to make sure we learned everything we needed to and not fall behind. They were going to withhold lessons from the students during the week to provide them to those who attended the weekend classes
So they only focus on the ones who do private tutoring and don't even teach the ones who don't? That sounds ridiculous. What do the ones who cant afford or don't go tutoring do then? Just sit and daydream in class and the teacher never helps them for anything?
Wouldn't the parents of the kids complain? I would. And they would have every right to complain, even get the teacher sacked.
@@ex0duzz
not like they dont teach anything for the day class, they still teach basic knowledge but test material is usually taught during tutoring. Im vnese so i have similiar exp with this kind of teaching.
Even if u complain, teachers always get away by telling those test material is within the book or homework or lesson within the class. In short, they tell u that u dont understand the basic knowledge.
Also its not common to complain about their teachers since its cultural thing in Asia. So not many complaining and even less solutions for the kind of problem
I can't believe some people are saying "shame on china for taking away children's dreams and freedom" down the comment.
Some teenagers and their families are really taking this seriously.
I think what the video shows are something happens most in the city (probably not even in a small city, but only in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen)
For the students living in small towns or undeveloped areas, education is still the easiest way for them to change their life and have a different life from the last generation.
Yet they might not need to get into the top10 uni, or any famous university in the big city, but it can still help a lot. At least they can get a degree and work for the government or companies, and have more wages.
But even if the government banned private tutoring, students might still get some extra exercise from school teachers. So the pressure they get doesn't really reduce much.
But as new generations are becoming parents, they are more open-minded and care more about if their kids are happy. And I do believe that the government does notice something, I guess that's why it banned tutoring, even though it still has a long way to go.
I'm Chinese and English is not my first language. I hope I didn't make many grammar mistakes. Luckily I don't have to go through China 'gaokao'(the examination to get into uni). But some of my relatives have been to this exam(or present), that's how I know those details. I hope I express my view politely and clearly.
"I'm Chinese and English is not my first language. I hope I didn't make many grammar mistakes. ".......It's okay to make mistakes. It is the process of improvement in learning. Even native people make mistake in their everyday life. Don't be discouraged by mistakes, think it as the "friend" who pushes you to become your better self each time. Remember, progress not perfection. And btw, your English is top notch
@Johan Liebert The good thing about China is exactly this. Not a lot of people succeed in getting accepted to even a poor university. Cause obviously there isn't enough chair for 1 billion people to sit in a college class and get a degree. However in my country Iran they have made so many universities and lowered the price to get a degree that almost everyone has an academic degree. Here we still have an intense race to get to top university because if you are not in the best ones your degree is practically worthless and you are just getting it for the sake of getting it.
Here you can hardly find anyone who doesn't have a degree in some obscure field they don't even care about and even educationally unsuccessful people can still get into a university with ease.
Instead of having to make poor students waste their lives studying useless facts why not just improve underdeveloped areas. Look from an outside perspective for a moment. They are wasting 18 years of their lives studying for an exam that serves no purpose other than just pressure them. That isn't an education.
@Johan Liebert Education is definitely the easiest way to change people's life in China. You have to remember that China is still a developing country and cost for human resource there is still very low. It's different from European countries or USA where labor is more valued.
Why do you think most Asian immigrants are so fixated on being a doctor/lawyer/engineer? Because education is the fastest way to get better life. Is it the only route? No, but it give higher percentage for success.
@Johan Liebert you know what, in asian countries even you've got a degree doesn't makes you will get a job with the same background education that we choose because there's sooo many people but we just had a small job vacancies. I've been there, almost become poor even i had a degree because is so hard to get a job, the competition in here is so tight.
The sad things, my work partner had a more salary than i do because they're expatriate. We had same job, same task even i had more experience than he does. I had to work so hard because once you underperform, the company will replace you with another. Its easy in here to fired people and our contract is so bad but some of us doesn't had any choice
I dont think China's competitive nature can be fixed, they have 1 billion people all living in essentially a few HIGHLY dense cities. When you have limited resources and overpopulation this is a natural consequence
I'm from India and I still remember my mom forcing me to go attend the local tution centre and it took a toll on my mental health it's horrible how parents can kill a child's dream in the name of academics
All so they won’t be fooled.
High population is main factor for this level of stress , very similar to India where competitive exams are tough in nature on addition to high number is students taking the exams adds to the difficulty.
Competitive doesn't even begin to describe it. In India the cut off point for top universities is 100%, in everything and even there ends up being more students who do get the 100% in everything than there are slots in all the top universities. That's doing the best that can be done and still not getting in.
Hey in India it's even worse, even if you score good you won't get anything good, because 65% of the seats are not meant for you 😂😂
(Can't comment if it's right or wrong but it's just a bit ironic that's all)
Not completely true. S.Korea also has same kind of exam system.
@@thecomment9489 yeah I've heard about that too
I don't think a high population is the main factor. Brazil, Nigeria and Pakistan also have very large populations and poor developing economies. Brazil's population alone is more than half of the EU, and the students don't go through this level of stress. I think it's an Asian thing to be ultra competitive, to the point it stymies creativity and induces mental stress. Korea and Japan have some of the highest teen suicide rates with crazy exams, some lasting for 6hrs and a typical school day lasting from 9am-6pm. It's terrifying the lengths most go through to get perfect points on a test
As an Asian who was born in the west I can't imagine myself going to school from 8am to midnight everyday just to make 2 people happy. It feels like a prison sentence where you only have 1 day a week of freedom the rest of the week you are either studying, doing homework, or sleeping. And even that 1 day of freedom you are expected to do something educational or a piano lesson that you are expected to achieve in the upmost highest standards.
That family of 3 , I love what they are doing with their kids. The fact that the oldest had done a lot of travelling when she was younger allows their mind to take in more experiences in life. There is this video with Gary V where a mother asks "What is the truth about college for children". Gary mentions that spending 3 months in Europe would make them more worldly and well rounded then spending that same amount of time stuck in a dorm room and perhaps either gaming or studying through the night. Sure some professions require a degree but look at all the rich people in life they have no education. Take Francois Pinault as an example, dropped out of high school and is now worth 35 billion dollars. School isn't everything if it was, we wouldn't have many of the things we have today. Cause everyone would just be constantly waking up, school, more school, sleep, age, wake up, work, sleep, work, sleep and death. What's the fun in that? Let them create their own path in their life, help them achieve their goals, and beat the norm. #fuckthenormality
You can come to China to have a try, I am a Chinese student, if you can't go to college, then some parents will think that their children's life is wasted, we must surpass other people's learning to compete for a higher diploma is the most important thing for parents.
Chinese-American here. It's not just Mainland Chinese that love to see their children compete - overseas Chinese, as far as I could tell while growing up, are much the same way. I still recall seeing kids cry and scream in frustration at their parents due to the crushing pressure they were under. I've known kids who were forced to practice violin three hours a day (my own parents were disappointed when I received a less-than-perfect score at a piano recital). I've known several kids who've gotten yelled and harshly disciplined for getting Bs and one kid whose mother pressured him to skip grades because her friend's son did. One mother even loudly bragged about her high-achieving son's accomplishments at a potluck and attributed his gifts to being blessed by God.
All those Asian kids you see at school excelling at everything? Behind many of those faces, A grades, and top test scores are some miserable kids who are sacrificing their childhoods to make their parents look good.
Singapore uni grad here. My life was like that too. 😪
"The adults like to see children compete"
-Indian parents favourite sport😃
Yeah and you look good
I haven't seen genuine and neutral reporting on China like this one in a while. Thanks for not politicizing everything about China.
I often thought about why my teacher gave me so much homework when I was younger. And they still would expect us to have time to study afterward. By the time I finished my homework, it was so late and I just went to sleep. My friend just skip school altogether 1 month before the exam to study. Although he got called out for his action, he got a better result than me. See, who says homework helps. It does not.
i am a private english tutor in china, my work didnt stop after the ban, it just evolved, even before the ban i tried to make my classes light, fun and not as competitive because I KNEW my students were so overworked, i remember i would work from 1pm to 9:30pm, and yes, children would be studying until that hour, not because i wanted to, but because their parents would make me do it, i'd often be told by parents to "not be so soft or easy" on them, it's a huge issue here, i feel so bad sometimes for my kids
What do you do now?
@@noemie6804 I am still a teacher! I work in a primary school, public education wasn’t really affected by this ban, I still have my own private students though, because like I said this didn’t stop anything lol it just changed it a little
@@peanut5952 Do you think the Chinese education system and youth has a future? Will any more effective reforms arrive under the current Jinping administration? Also, how do you use RUclips in China? 😂 I mean I know VPN exists but do many people in China use it to access RUclips?
@@jerrybi8400 the education system it's definitely changing... i want to believe it's for the better of the kids but i really doubt it, literally this week they announced that in the next term primary students will start taking home economic type of classes, cleaning, cooking and even planting and harvesting fruits and vegetables, which in my opinion is amazing but it also takes away time they could be using to rest and play, i'm just a foreign teacher so while sometimes principals only use me to give their schools more image value i also try my best to make students feel loved and heard, specially since i work in a boarding school type of place, my students live on campus and go home during the weekends and holidays. About the VPN thing, it's way more common that you'd imagine, most households have VPN routers or have VPNs installed in their devices, i guess it's like an open secret haha like everyone knows it's not allowed but most use it, and if you're a foreigner everyone just assumes you have a VPN
@@peanut5952 I appreciate your efforts 👌. I hope the system gets better for the good of the people and children. Asians have a bad image for being harsh in education, including my country, India. Myself suffering from the burden of 10th grade examinations right now, however I can manage it somehow.
Also, I didn't know its so common to use VPN there 😂, guess the media doesn't talk about how the Chinese can access global internet 🤪
It's good to see that a law has been put in place to change such a stressful grueling system. However, as the college student said in the end unless they change how colleges admit students based on Gaokao scores, this new law will be useless. As eventually all of these children will end up becoming victims of an underground pressure pot system where they too will face the taxing tutoring and study methods just to gain a firm foothold in society. Many talents are overlooked by such a system, as not every student is suited to exam-based learning. University is a place where children can grow and discover/develop their passions. I have met many people in uni who were D and C students in high school but graduated with honors in university. All children just need the opportunity. P.S. Companies also need to change their recruitment tactics because it is a huge part of why the children are prepped so much to the point of mental and physical exhaustion. China is full of so many talents from the moment they are born, these children are little blessings who will go on to do amazing things. They just need governmental and societal support to bridge the gap for those who come from poor and rural backgrounds to supply equal opportunities. (Sorry for the long rant! Blessings to all of these kids who have gone through the system and those who have yet to.)
we need this in india, 'coaching' for competitive exams has gone as far as to lead students into opting for dummy schools and integrated programs.
True
If this happened then our education industry of almost 118 Billion dollars will fall apart and will lead to country's overall decline in GDP and can also lead to rise in unemployment rate so this ain't happening anyday.
@@ishawrizz yeah besides for this teachers need to be good in every school. There is not even enough faculty in lot of school let alone good ones this was the reason i had left home for kota since i wanted to prepare for jee too. And mind u i studied in KV upto 10th grade which is a central govt school.
Not gonna happen when politicians own half of these institutes
Same situation in every Asian countries especially in China and South Korea and to some extent in India.. To be honest I'm 10th grade student and I really don't have to wakeup till late at night and keep staring at books as in China. Studying for 5-6 hrs, enjoying, playing, family time,using social medias I do everything to the fullest.. And I'm really grateful to our Indian education system .they keep our syllabus minimal so that we can study without pressure especially till 10th class.
This system does not aim to promote social equality through education, but to use it in a meritocratic way to perpetuate inequalities.
This is overwhelming some children cannot manage this level of stress and naturally a lot of children are not good at school. Surprisingly a lot of these parents are living in denial; some of these parents are forcing children to go further when they are already at thier limit and this can lead to alot of psychological disorders could even lead to children ending up in jail for killing thier parents or venting out thier anger and tiredness on someone else. There is a million and one other ways to become successful these day some people even got famous from making cooking videos it's not about the fame though it's what comes with it; money.
Only kids with autism in China are exempt from this. They gave schools in China for special needs kids and exams, and testing are not allowed. The specialists work in social skills, music, ect
at first glance, it was a good decision, children could have more time to rest and competition will not be as radical as it was. however, if you look closer, rich families can always hire home tutor, which is financially impossible for mid-lower class families. this will result in a greater imbalance in the distribution of education resources. most chinese lower class families rely on children's education to migrate to higher class, and it's the main driving power of tutor classes.
I'm 14 and I'm not Asian (I'm from Moldova tho), but I'm a tiger-teen. It means that I like studying and discipline very much, I like to compete and to put effort to be the first (yeah, I love China too). I study for 9-10 hrs (from 6am to 9-9.30 pm) at weekdays and 5-6 hrs at weekend, but I can't imagine myself studying later than 10pm... Even for the last hour of my studying, I do "relaxing" classes as piano and chess, which I have a big passion in. I also don't have tutors and sometimes it's a pity for me, bc I find studying with a teacher more efficient, but sometimes I realise that when I'm free and teaching myself, I can give myself breaks whenever I want. I remember how in 6th grade I've just started my "tiger"-way and decided to make my discipline strong, so I had to do all tasks I had been lazy to do earlier... I was studying to 1-2am for a week straight and it was a very harsh time... I also have some days (e.g. at village with my parents) when I spend all my day doing funny doings (e.g. crafting). I think that everyone should be teaching necessarity of studying, but not so fanatic...
Sorry for my bad English, I'm just studying it
I wish we had even a thin chance of this happening in India... neet and jee... you know if you know. Only the student appearing for them understand the sufferers
True, not only for admission tests. But, also for competitive xams, it is getting insane. The amount of pressure on students is just not good for the society.
Tuition apne desh mei ek bahut bada bussiness hai bhai
Fyck our parents for breeding like rats
There is a term we use here called “内卷” it directly translates to curling inwards. This is used to describe the fierce competition inside local schools. Everyone has to fight their hardest and you get trapped in this cycle. Everyone has to get tutors so that they don’t fall behind and the competition only gets more intense.
Yes! I've noticed that there isn't really an english equivalent; the closest word I can think of is inflation. It can also be applied to a lot of other things like how university degrees are becoming less valuable because of competition and work culture is getting more stressful. The problem really isn't solvable by a single ban to the tutoring system, and I don't think things can change without a massive overturning of our educational system and economy.
@@Dark-fr3gk Involution
对的，就叫内卷，这个次在中国很常见了
我很反感内卷但是不得不内卷
VICE NEWS I beg you please cover the story of NEET, JEE(mains), JEE(advance), UPSE exams also.
We students of India are really upset and frustrated with these exams. I am a NEET appearing candidate. The stress level is SOOOO high for students. Please cover these story
It's a humble request. 🙏🏼
We really need video on these topic!!
You could email VICE about them doing the topic that you want them to cover.
@@punkgirlphoto oh I didn't knew. Thanks 🤜🏼🤛🏼👍🏼
I am very interested in this. I hear it is equally competitive in india
@@oO1723 yes it so competitive in India. In India relatives tell their kids marks to flex and ask our result to flex.
UPSE is world's 2nd toughest, IIT JEE is 3rd toughest, GATE is 6th or 7th toughest, NEETug is 11th toughest exam in the world.
Around 14-15 lakh students apper in JEE in 2020-21 year. And around 0.1-0.5% students will qualify for IIT, NIT,IIIT(maths students)
Around 17.3 lakh students in NEET appeared in 2020-21 year. Around 10% students will get government medical College from 17.3 NEET aspirants. All other students have to go for semi government or private medical College or go to countries like US, UK, Canada, Australia, Phillipines, Ukraine,Russia,china for medical studies.
There are special cities for students just to study and prepare for competitive exams. On platform like RUclips you will get 100 videos for any 1 single topic to study.
There are billion dollars institutions just for competitive exam preparation like Aakash institute, Allen, resonance classes, Byju's online platform, unacadamy, vedantu etc....
If you are not Indian consider yourself lucky that you don't have to study like indian students. Have a good day 🤜🏼🤛🏼🙏🏼
There is another reason for that;
Most school/college teachers withhold important parts of the lectures for later tuition. This is unethical. I have seen many of my colleagues teaching BBA, withholding necessary information, only to dispense it during their private tuition session.
It's a complicated situation.
I am half Chinese, I have a cousin who with his wife set up a kids education center(mostly for kindergarten and first few primary grade kids) they set up their facility to foster a love for art and English. They practically poured thier life savings into this project, and then the regulations hit. They haven't been able to get a license to teach or find teachers to hire. There where many rumors that these laws have been set up to control the teaching of English or "foreign influence" but I cannot say for sure. It's just such a shame that this law has had such a big impact yet the change wasnt necessarily for the better.
It is because the government do not want people to waste money on certain projects. Maintaining a good financial sector is the most important in all honesty. But the situation is that, these projects are not useful to the most pressing issues inside China.
1) Their financial sector is collapsing, bank runs... high risky loans, unprecendented. Peer to peer loans. Solutions, inheritance financial products etc. Savings. Child savings account etc.
2) Pollutions. How to reduce the pollutions, why not find ways or to make businesses, that can CLEAN up their own water supplies, and things like that ?
3) Cancer rates. Pesticides in water ways, lack of good clean water. And by that, we do not mean the kind of clean water that you do not see rubbish in them, but clean water as in.. the water has no basic metal bits from the building and the construction sectors.. as well as there are no pesticides inside the water. How about building ionising machines? How about building water detoxification machines? How about planning and building good water ways to provide a good and clean environment first ??? And for those projects, you NEED people to come together and to do it. But the governments or the provincial governors keep saying that they want "businesses".. but in truth.. How can you ?
The education sector that you guys talked of... is not even the kind that solve things either... There is nothing wrong in making things yourself, instead of continually reselling things. Even in Japan... they still make those old iron kettles, from scratch. They still make their own plates. So how come China, do not stop with the factories, and start to raise their prices, and really make real items and customised designs? I don't like or want factory made items. I want higher quality products ! Something which is customised, and unique and has only 1 of !
Japan sells 1 item , it charges 100 pound.
China sells 100,000 items, and it charges 100 pound.
So when will China sell 10 items, and charges 100 pound ? A GOOD and a BETTER quality item ?
oh believe me, no policy would slow down Chinese parents' obsession with competition and with going to the best schools. I live here and I've seen it all
This chinese parents needs to stop been obession and stop abuse the kids from not been perfect
This isn't an issue of banning private tutoring and so on, this is more of a cultural thing. First of all, the best way to have success in your life in China is to enter a good university, which is divided commonly into 3 tiers, being tier 1 is the best which includes unis like Tsinghua, Pekin University or Jiaotong. Entering one of these kinds of guarantees your future. Tier 2 is more of a "normal" university that doesn't guarantee the best of the best job and Tier 3 which is basically "trash".
The problem is that when you have such a big population with so many kids, with limited Tier 1 universities, they will have to compete between them to get into such universities as everyone is aiming for them. My parents told me that a single point of difference could take out several thousand people. Just by knowing this, if you do not give your absolute best, how are you supposed to enter there? Still, most Chinese parents have their son's academic performance as their pride and they will boast about it when someone's kid is behaving poorly while listening to that, they will obv tell their children to study harder and get extra help (materials, private tutoring, ...).
If there is no private tutoring, many parents will do what they have to do to make their children performance increase even by punishing (physically: hitting (not so common), or mentally: telling them how bad they are and comparing them to an attempt to make them try harder (very common) instead of helping them.
Many have mentioned that they could reduce the content but that is actually not such a good thing (and not very probable to happen) as by reducing the content, the exams ought to be easier therefore many would have their score increased and it will be harder to pick students if a lot of students gets a full score.
TLTR: this isn't that easy to change. If it wanted to be changed, it would have to change the whole system.
Banning it doesn’t make it disappear. It just means that it will be done illegally and people with the financial means to afford things like private tutoring will get a head start and advantage over those that can’t afford it. Making social differences based on economic abilities even more prominent.
It's about time the private edtech sector was regulated. In India too, the govt. should regulate the etech giants like BYJU's, etc. These companies mostly operate on FOMO marketing that causes lot of anxiety to the parents and expectational burden to students.
Props to Chinese govt. for intervening. 👍
This is a very good documentary even though it made me incredibly sad. With Gaokao and the high-stake examination-oriented system still unchanged, I doubt the double reduction policy can have a significant enough positive impact. We need more systemic changes to make our educational system healthier.
And you know what. I never needed tutoring nor did I ever go to tutoring and Gaokao still messed me up. Story time: I graduated from high school before this new policy, but I have very open-minded parents who never put pressure on me to perform well academically. But despite being extremely lucky like that and I'm sure many students have it worse than me, I STILL never felt that I was enough and that my worth did not depend on the numbers on my transcript, nor did I have enough time for other activities or just... to take a break. I was the top of my class but people only pushed me harder. Being objectively good with exams didn't protecting me from internalising the shame and guilt for not working hard enough or the anxiety to keep up that performance. School and exams could very easily feel like my whole world, and it took a lot of time and self-awareness to feel differently. I go to therapy to deal with trauma and unlearn a lot of the things those years left me, but again, I am very lucky, and most of my peers haven't got to do that, and I doubt many of them ever will, and I hate this so much and always get so angry both for myself and on their behalf.
I love study, I love learn new things. Especially when the topics seems interesting. And for a long time I thought: if I don´t study all day and everyday, I am dumb and weak.
I pressured myself worse study habits bc I thought that makes me more stronger, but I ended with insecurities, anxiety and digestive problems. My dad helps me to take the grades with calm, but I can imagine all the pressure that kids have when adults are watching everyday their lives.
i used to be very cynical about this whole test-prep system of china and i have to say some of it is really toxic to students, but again, not everyone is privileged and we have to recognize that with limited education opportunities, its very hard to distribute these chances without a test evaluation.
and its not just china. Korea has suneng as well, and U.S. has SAT and other standardized class. Netflix had this "buy into Ivy" documentary and the rich parents are equally anxious for a spot in the ivys...
In sort. Some sort of competition exists everywhere. I just hope one day this competition becomes equal everywhere but alas humanity is will die way before that happens. We need a restart lol
I dont think the problem is the test evaluation in itself per se, but the way the test evaluation works in China. Apperently its 9 HOURS LONG and is VERY hard. Also apperently there is such a huge wealth gap between students that come frum the rural areas of China VS the students who come from the big cities that students from rural areas have been found that they literlly cant compete with urban area students. So the test is obviously failing at distributing chances due to having very unrealistic demands and apperently, by banning private tutors, it has made the gap even larger.
@@spotsthenpc7796 If you come from a rural area or are a minority (ie. not han chinese), you actually get a significant boost to your scores. Realize that every single astronaut on Shenzhou 13 mission came from a rural village. In the US, the poor don't get such luxuries. They get kicked to the curb. That's why more and more teens are joining gangs.
@@spotsthenpc7796 As Chinese i can definitely testify that the rural-city gap is huge
this is so sick, reminds me of the movie Gattaca, where the bar set so high , everything is set at birth. I feel like this is where the dystopia is heading when genetic engineering is allowed. Very soon, your place is truely dictate by birth and the uber wealthy is doing everything to keep their place with designer babies and theres no mobility in life. Human treated as fine motor parts
I went to school in Hong Kong until i was 13. I did not do well and i hated the pressure from my family. Once i moved to Canada, i had less presssure and finally enjoy learning. I was able to do well in school and attended university. Now, i am teaching my son to enjoy learning first.
where do you think is better to study? Canada or Australia? Canada is more expensive than Australia though.
@@theq1621 I can't say as I not familiar with the Australian education system. I think you need to see how accessable is universities for students for each country.
Although in Canada we still follow play based learning in early primary school
for people to be rich, there gotta be people who suffer for it
that’s how the world runs
now you have a country with this insane amount of humans, it’s the logical conclusion, that the bars are rising
it’s sad to see, that humans are treated as machines, like education is there only purpose in life, when there is so much more…
Yep very true .
O
true, i’m days away from graduating high school and will be going to senior high in the upcoming year. still pressured, ambivalent
@winterbreak LOL NO
This has affected throughout Southeast Asia too. Mainly in the Chinese community. You can see many parents in Malaysia who have adopted these ways.
Agreed. The tuition culture is huge in Malaysia as well
@@DulyDullahan Yes totally. Also many of these parents neglect their kids needs for outdoor activity. Ruining much of their physical development. All of because the need to have excellent grades so they can boast to their friends in the future.
Its the same here in India. Its such a problem they made a whole Netflix series(Kota Factory) out of it
@@84jordie I’ve seen kids who would go straight to tuition after school and also have tuitions back to back on Saturdays. Personally, I’ve had an average of 4-5 tuitions from Form 3 until Form 5. It’s so ingrained into our culture :(
@@DulyDullahan I totally get where you are coming from. If I remember correctly, I have always had before school (if school was sesi petang) or after school Tuition starting around primary 3, and only this only ended during SPM examination.
I always thought it was hell and overkill that we had to study before and after our "Education" time. Even during school holidays, the 'activity' would be Evergreen Aloha training, which is basically a math school for us to learn to use the Abacus.
Fast forward 20 years since I've finished my SPM, now raising my own kids in Australia, and the difference in mentality for edution at young age is mind blowing, I know almost no one who sends their Child for tuition here.
India has a similar problem. Private tutoring has now entered digital space in the form of edtech. Some of them are very unethical and persuasive, they convince the parents that their child is dumb and must purchase the course to beat the other students.
it's sickening seeing this that it still happens in this time, in this era. where they believe the only success that they'll ever get in their life is through physical paper.
Most of countries are like thos, most of parents are like this
People don't know that this would form a different kind of anxiety. Even if it's not a big deal, they would still be sad even if their grades lower a bit, it would still bring them a different kind of anxiety and panic at the same time. Then their parents even push them more, building pressure that most children couldn't handle. 😔
*Sadly I experienced this*
@@hikamarie118 Me too
2 faces tho,that's the reason why Chinese people really advanced and lift up the whole country from a only-copy undeveloped country to a developed country with many new technology ahead of the world.But yeah,on the other hand,the anxiety and super stress is really a thing in China.
US students are reduced the amount of study and that;s why American youth is lagging behind compared to Asian students.While Asian students trying hard to get into top tier university and work in technology and engineering major,US student tend to party all days with frat system and protest everyday for gender equality or LGBT pride,etc...
I have dyslexia (unable to read words clearly) and private tutoring is what allows me to stay a 3.8 unweighted HS GPA. I can't imagine being a dyslexic student in China.
Unfortunately, as long as employers continue to hire from prestigious universities and prestigious universities admit solely based on the college exam, things aren't going to change much. If employers hire based on 'show me what you can do', similar to how tech companies hire in the United States, we might slowly see a shift in kids doing more productive activities instead.
Study harder and become a good worker so that your boss can buy the latest Tesla model.
China has better EVs than Tesla.
It's kind of remembering in india while preparing for jee , i used to wake up at 4am and sleep at 11pm for almost more than 1 year and at last i didn't qualify even in mains
Kurosaki kun i got ptsd due to my iit jee days, and it’s been 6 years.
I didn't even prepare for Jee, but i had to sit for the exam. It was hands down the worst year of my life. I'm so glad I'm past that
@@Ksl9393 me too, it destroyed my dreams and my health got deteriorated at that time.
@@agni_oh this kind of exam should be banned.
Screw the jee man and move on . In 5 years nobody will care even if you did jee
That major exam should be an option, not obligation. They should calculate student's performance through middle school to high school and decide which student needs to take that exam (bc if that choise falls on the student, I'm pretty sure the parents will still make them take that exam even if they have high score)
That is a very good idea.Last year In india most of the exam which let students got into college didn't happened because of covid (except medical and engineering).So they took 3 years of student record and grade them. Most consistent students got highest marks. Our engineering and medical exam needs two years of syllabus (4subjects) to be remembered which is crazy to me.One exam should not decided one person life. Until one exam with hugh amount syllabus given so much importance It will go on.No students should die because of pressure of education.
that doesn't work with a country of 1.4 billion people.
@@orbitalpotato9940 it worked on India though. There are JEE for those who pursue engineering, there also medical one (I'm not indian) and also civil worker. While in China, no matter what are u pursuing...the gaokao still need to be done
Teenagers need to sleep for longer than adults (like 9 hours). I'm pretty sure depriving a developing brain of sleep has some serious consequences. This can't actually continue providing returns if you're not allowing them to get proper rest.
as much as education is important I feel that it's also important to let people explore and participate in activities they love to not only balance their study life but also take time to do activities, the fact that these children are still young and easily persuaded by adults telling them to constantly study will have that idea ingrained in their mind even as they grow up. how are they meant to live the best years of their lives studying and studying and not balancing it out with activities or even just having a rest..
i was there when this happened, all my friends were in more than 2 tutoring classes at the time and they went anyways but in secret in abandoned looking buildings so it didnt raise any suspicion (yeah kids going in and out of abandoned buildings to not raise suspicion)
I taught English to Chinese students online for 5 years. I miss them so much, but those kids need rest. China needs to change laws for the entrance exams, as well. My students studied all the time. A few of them would take multiple lessons in a row. After the policy change, one parent contacted me outside of the platform and asked if I would continue teaching her son, but I declined. Now, I just send them messages once in a while to see how they're doing.
East Asia and South Asia parents are same , they just want their to kids to be successful in every field possible even if they mentally suffering and torturing them.
@far iha...West African parents are the same way. I am Japanese but my Ghanian friend's parents were very very strict about having a university degree is a must it's not a choice.
this is also the same in my country, most students attend private tutoring after school. which teach the same subjects but focus on national exam's questions and how to solve it efficiently without really explaining the details.
sometimes i think what's the point of national exam when students can't pass it with knowledge we get from school
Once, my chemistry teacher took a class test. It was 20 mcqs which were taken from a test paper of a Chinese school. More than half of the students out of 30 failed. Usually got 8-9/20 scores. only like 4-5 students got 14-17. (17 was the highest and only one person got).
My classmates, said to the teacher, "Sir where did you find this sort of questions" "probably from some Chinese school, or else it wouldn't be this hard" "what was this"
If everything is focused on getting to a good university but not knowing where to go in life with a career what will happen then? If the children are being constantly told to get into a good university a good job but what is that “good job”? From what I know there’s no career planning just get a “good job”. I’m glad I was born in the UK and having a mother that supports me and understanding that I prefer practical GCSE’s and not forcing me into a career path or certain subjects. Her only hope for me is to become a good person and be able to support myself while doing something I love.
Of course not everyone parents are like that and I’m Chinese myself but I know that not everyone has the privilege to be able to do what they want. I have no advice but I wish for the best for all students taking the gaokao this year!
It's the same in India for the pre Uni exams...I go to school at 8 in the morning and return home at 8p.m all crushed up but I have to do my work till 1 am and I get to sleep after then and wake up at 5 a.m again.
this is so true because I have some Chinese friends that I've known online and they always share their everyday school experience to me and I would be always shocked on how their school system works😐
When they say the pressure on kids to succeed is super high, it is SUPER high. The entrance exam score determines your entire future. Colleges don't look at anything else but the score. If they want to reduce pressure on families, they need to change their approach to education. A 3,000 year old examination system just doesn't work very well in modern times. I used to work as a teacher in China and those kids were so stressed and depressed. My friend even had one kid that used a razor blade to cut himself in class! (Such things aren't checked for in most Chinese schools. I had a kid bring in switch blade once.) He said it helped him stay awake. The amount of homework they are given is nearly impossible to complete in one night. Imagine having to write 5 1000 word essays, do 10 worksheets, and study for an uncoming test all in one night! It's insane what is expected of these kids even as young as middle school. These kids have no life experiences outside of studying. I'd ask them, "What are your hobbies?" and all they could say is "studying". Imagine being a kid/teen and having no time to play sports, hang out with friends, learn a skill, or just be in nature. As an educator, it was truly heart breaking to see. These kids don't live. No amount of potential success is worth sacrificing your entire childhood.
I'm Chinese, and I went to study medicine at an elite institution in the US. I wouldn't necessary say Chinese education is very good even though some brilliant minds emerge it, but the problem to me is that it's very inefficient. For example, my teachers record their lectures here, but sometimes I don't show up since attendance isn't mandatory and I just watch the lecture on 2x speed to learn everything in 1.5 hours instead of sitting for a 3 hour lecture + commuting. Offer students options in learning and you'll see more success...and also some teachers in China literally only teach you the fundamentals if you pay for tutoring - which is corrupt since that should be offered for free.
That seems like a sick mindset to have children compete like this. That’s so evil like bc of the suicidal rates that go up during the exams too. Mental health just takes a drop completely and those kids aren’t happy anymore bc they have to show that they are smart. I wonder what dreams they had before this and how’s it’s crushed bc everyone expects them to do this.
So what do you suggest? How do you fairly assess a population of over 1.4 billion people?
Let me tell u. In Asia and not just China, having a college degree is a dream for almost all the children, especially those who came from poor family.
U can literally go to all country in Asia, doing a vote or something and I can guarantee the majority of them want to have a degree in college. But entering college especially the good college is not easy, that's why we forced ourselves to study even tho its basically killed us. And those who suicide, they just not strong enough. End of the story.
If u disagree with this mindset its up to you. But Stop blame the government, the parents, the culture or the other thing. Its disgusting that u try to force ur mindset to us
@@orbitalpotato9940 What if they installed suicide booths? Like in that one Futurama episode?
@@stickierstudios2026 idk that doesn't really help.
@@orbitalpotato9940 let the chuldren to what they want to become without any pressures
That ban didn’t really accomplish anything, the toxic system and exam’s difficulty will still be the same, it will just make children perforform worse. This change cost so many tutors their living it’s not even funny. It also affects online English tutors, so Chinese students can no longer have English lessons with natives.
It will aslo not change the minds of the parents all of sudden, many will still find ways of hiring the tutors illegaly. What needs to happen is a system change, where the exams get revised and changed, where the school system itself improves. I mean, you wouldn’t need tutors in the first place if the schools did their job how they are supposed to. But that will not happen, because CCP would lose face if they admitted that their tutor ban didn’t in-fact accomplish anything. Poor kids.
Well, I studied my first 2 years of primary school in Hong Kong and I remembered that there were constant tests and quizzes already at that point.
Fortunately I moved away from a pressurised education system to somewhere else, where teachers are supportive and tries to put less emphasis on examination scores. Not to mention all the other extracurricular activities that we, as students, are able to pursue.
There's always a sense of "missing the point", by taking away tutoring, you aren't really reducing the pressure because the workload is in the requirements in school and exams, and school hours. Tutoring is supposed to help and break this down easier. The only problem it solves is the money hungry companies who don't really know anything about teaching, and instead just charge high. But the fact that dedicated teachers and educators are seen as the problem is completely false. Parents right now are pretty much searching for teachers so they can reduce the stress, not add it.
Meanwhile in India, Byjus and all crazy Coaching classes are billion dollar industries. I understand that the exams like JEE , NEET or UPSC are important for people with low incomes and these kinds of exams can change their socio economic reality. But the competition is cutthroat. Millions of students compete for 10,000-15, 000 seats. India should look into this. also, it's an exhausting process which immensely affects mental health of Children.
But it has its other side. If private coaching is banned, it can lead to illegal or underground private coachings.
They measure themselves by time spent rather than accomplishment, I always found that weird. It's not about how much time you spend learning or reading, it's how much you've absorbed and understood that matters. Practice comes AFTER learning, this sort of mindless revision doesn't do anything to kids. I can't imagine forcing them to learn by sacrificing sleep is going to make them remember anything they've learnt.
A lot of things learned in school are redundant or even outright useless. This is even the case for some of the most “knowledge based” profession out there like software engineer or doctor. There are things that can only be learn when doing it not through reading/hearing and responding on a piece of paper.
Chinese government sees 50-100 years ahead. 50-100 years from now, next generations are likely to raise their children better, because they knew how hard it was for them back in the day. Just let the policy take effect for the next 20-30 years, you will surely see a drastic change in the mindset of the parents as you can already see among current generation of young parents.
At least they are trying something, instead of doing nothing and making empty promises like your average politicians.
Please, can you put english subtitles, thank you 🙏🌺
All I’ll say is that I’m so thankful for the western approach to education and the holistic development of children.
EDIT: I’ll just add this. In Switzerland and Germany there is a huge emphasis on trade\skilled education as opposed to academic. Which supports the higher end of the economic value chain. Trade skills in general are highly sought after and highly paid. In Asia it’s the complete opposite.
I wish I grew up in Switzerland or some Nordic country. Even in the UK, I feel that the pressure is too much that I'm suffocating.
@@mellowhead Lord, the UK's education system is easy as fuck, if you're suffocating under that, you just aren't trying hard enough. All the kids I knew who did bad in my school were complete time wasters, they weren't people who actually tried in school.
This should be done everywhere, especially India.
My coworker who cares about good school and top school area in usa said: my #1 goal for kindergarten to elementary school is for my child to learn now to be a good person. Because of the state we live it , it can only be achieved by going to top schools for public or private schools. (Bc school resources are allocated by resident tax money and not student population , so a school with a population of 100 students with top earners will get all the money compared to 1000 students with lower classes families).
Wouldn’t it be better to encourage a love of learning that they can take with them into adulthood as we need to be more flexible in our ability to learn new things.
I think it’s important to have backup/catchup classes for mathematics, physics and chemistry as I remember I was a bit of a sickly child and teenager and I found once I missed a week to a month of school here and there in those subjects it affected my understanding of it as the concepts fit together and one piece missing affects everything else.
It's not good for kids with ADHD
it is difficult for me to explain to westerners the pressure of being chinese.
excluding the ever-looming fears of US military attacking China. internally it is difficult too. now imagine if your SAT scores would dictate your socioeconomic status. those who have studied well are allowed to enter the upper echelons of society. your test results will allow you into a higher quality of life. the smarter you are the more access to opportunity and wealth you will have. you can very easily turn your ancestorial history around. you and your family can climb the social ladder through your test scores. you can uplift your entire family to a higher socio-economic status if you test well and get into university.
those who did not test well have two choices, a harder life while definitely still possible to achieve wealth just more hustle required, or study abroad where it is easier to get into university. and when you consider the 9-9-6 many young chinese students are very hopeful to study overseas. many second-generation wealth cannot bribe their ways into university there is no such thing as legacy admissions - within in china but they can send their children to america/ uk/ canada/ australia/ etc. where the admissions process is much easier. international students are considered a cash cow for many western universities that dont receive sufficient government funding.
I was fortunate that my parents were rich enough to send me to australia to study. but studying as an international student you have to face a lot of racism, many foreigners use you as a scapegoat for their domestic issues or they assume you are a spy infiltrating their country. I have spent my adult life being called a spy especially by americans. which in turn leads to many chinese students abroad becoming more nationalistic - they see the way they are hated for their immutable characteristics, not dissimilar to the treatment of black people, women or gay people. it leads them to stick to their own community. international students are frequently attacked overseas which galvanizes them to return to china.
I personally was unable to survive in the work ethic productivity in china and stayed overseas. the pressure of being productive members of society is very difficult. even though it has probably led to china's success. it is unsustainable for the chinese people.
Private Tutors represent a difference in socioeconomic status. my family was able to afford tutors from the moment I could walk. it detracts from the ideals of meritocracy because only the rich can afford it. private tutoring takes resources away from public schools. children in poor neighborhoods should be given the same quality of education as I received. it is a failure of the government to provide adequately. all chinese children should receive a more well-rounded education. rather than simply focusing in on STEM.
the benefit of private tutoring is undeniable. I was given so many practice tests and past examination questions that when it came to do the exams, I was much more prepared than others. but this is a class division just because I come from a wealthy family doesn't mean I should have more opportunities than other people. the government is right to crack down on this, public schools should be improved. for the greatness of an entire nation there should be equal opportunities for poor people as well. poverty should not be a factor in access to physiological needs such as education, housing, nutrition, infrastructure or healthcare.
I am an engineer because of my parent's choice, not by my own. and even though I have a good quality of life I wish I could have been given the opportunity to follow my passions and desire for creativity. I feel like it may be already too late for me as I was already lost of this childhood activity, but I wish that the next generation of children can pursue dreams outside of societal productivity.
Same here in India 🇮🇳
Many Indian parents too want their children to study any three:
1. Engineering
2. Medicine
3. IIT
I think not just in India, or China, entire Asian parents are strict and have high expectations from children
That is why we don't have any jobs
Slowly Indian parents don't want their children to be an engineer anymore, it's now medicine and iit
Also in kerala almost everyone I met who passed 12th are preparing themselves to go to migration (like Canada or USA) for high paying jobs instead of taking jobs you get in India after 12th. I hope Indian parents won't expect their children to go to foreign countries to get a high paying job because ngl most of the jobs parents expect from children are jobs most children aren't even passionate at and it's so hard to get admission from foreign colleges :/
And forgive me if I'm bad at English it's not my native language
@@dynipjohn485 they want them to be a computer scientist
With genz it's slowly changing... never met any 10th grader who's parents are forcing them to choose particular streams to pursue engineering or medical. Forcing is only common in older genz and later millennials.
This type of pressure on young children scares me. Children need to be children.
I'm honestly glad that my country changed a big part of the education system for passing high school or the grading system for going to a uni.
We used to have a national exams, where children from elementary to high school will participate in an all out national exams to pass their schools. Regarding whether they are talented or not, whether they're doing good with their grades in school or not, it all depends on their major national exams test.
Thus, causing many to not be able to pass the exams and have to repeat their grade again for a year. Then the government realized that it is truly unfair for the more talented ones, so they decided to erase the national passing exams all together and made the grading system depend on their performance at school. Which honestly is a life saviour.
Plus, it's also the same for college. Back then the national exams for entering a government funded public university depends on your performance on the national exams too. Back then, the grading system to enter a public school were based on how much of a correct answer that you got.
Correct ones will be graded as 4 points, false ones -1 points, and unanswered ones are 0. This of course made many failed the test because they are not as smart as those who scored big. So the government changed the grading system for entering college to the IRT system. Which made things pretty fair on the people who specializes in different things.
honestly as much as it is a problem kn china , I definitely think this is an issue with all testing that occurs in one go at the end of the year. The pressure put into just a few weeks is terrible and studies have shown that su1c1des rise before and during exam periods. I've even gone through it where I entered a depressive episode during exam mocks
I always found it strange how all the wealth of China seems to be concentrated in the top cities. I live in the USA, and people make a very good living in the country. Whether it is raising animals, or running a factory of some kind, there are all sorts of businesses in the country that do very well.
A lot of 5th tier cities in China look a lot better than tier 2 or 3 US cities.
Because US is a country built by immigrant, i mean no offence but your ancestors almost eliminated aboriginal, so US has huge amount of land to offer, so people who live in the country can generate incomes way more than Chinese in China does, there are the aboriginal, there is no way they could eliminate themselve, Farmer in US and Farmer in China means two different kind of people, in US they are Farm owner, in China they are more like Farm worker in US, even Communist revolution give land to every farmer, only very little piece of land could be offered becoz their population is huge, imagine if every US farmer can only own 0.5 acre of land, they will be equally poor as Chinese farmer
Thanks for this. I picked up on this after a PolyMatter vid on the GaoKao. This is a great keep dive and follow up on the situation, and reminds me that social issues are not stagnant, but constantly changing.
As a foreign teacher at a private bilingual school in China. I cannot stress enough how much work load my poor little students get. It really breaks my heart.