Comments on: Confessions of a Chinese graduate

By: Ling

Ling — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 12:28:26 +0000

What a beautifully written piece. I love your satirical take on things

By: Kelly

Kelly — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 11:37:46 +0000

Your article reminds me of my high school years, everyone turning into a “monster”. But now in retrospect it was not that horrible. It is a time we really striving for something. And those knowledge, basic ones, benefit us a lot in life.

By: Michelle Ma

Michelle Ma — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 01:54:02 +0000

This is a really spectacular essay. It can condemn in only a few words and nothing in it is trite. I never knew the extent of competition in China, today. This is great journalism, it investigates the subject matter with humanity but also a sort of isolated distance. Thanks for writing so well about a subject matter that is rarely given such judicious treatment.

All the best for University!

By: Kathryn Lambkin

Kathryn Lambkin — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 10:43:17 +0000

Playing devil’s advocate here… it seems the population want to be professionals without any entrepreneurs ahead of them. If you’re part of the first generation to be highly educated, you’re going to have to go out there and start the companies yourself. Small businesses need people with a balanced skillset who are willing to try their hand at anything. I think you’re crazy to go shelling prawns for the rest of your life, but there’s nothing wrong with shelling prawns and thinking about better ways to run the business, then setting up your own business. Maybe I’m oversimplifying it, and I know businesses obviously require start-up capital… but you obviously have what it takes to put in the long and initially unrewarding hours required to set up a small business (at least in the way it works here in Australia). Rather than waiting for someone to hand you an opportunity, I’d encourage you to go out and make one for yourself. I hope your countries laws aren’t so restrictive that you aren’t even allowed to do that!

By: Sherri

Sherri — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:16:21 +0000

Great article, and all too true. I was recently in China and it’s amazing how it seems everyone is always being looked at and evaluated in all aspects of life. Student’s walk 2 by 2, English speaking tour guides always have a counterpart watching them, factory workers are always in pairs, and even retail workers don’t work alone. I don’t know how higher education plays a part in the job hunt in China, but my husband went to a Chinese university. He said, unlike in the west, you don’t ask questions, just accept what the instructor tells you. Either you understand or you fail. That’s it, no exceptions. Thank you for the illuminating view into the Chinese educational system.

By: at.midnight

at.midnight — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 09:44:01 +0000

interesting article. lends excellent insight into the chinese education system!

By: FinalFantasy

FinalFantasy — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 08:17:46 +0000

Miserable life!

By: Liu Yi

Liu Yi — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 04:43:03 +0000

II feel compelled to write my response to your article which recalls all bitter memory of my high school life in a remote mountainous county of Henan province.

Like one poster wrote aforesaid, we wake up at 5am each morning and run 2~3 kilometers before we get back to classroom for morning self-study session at 6am with whole body wet through in perspiration. We are required to read loudly during self-studying, as loud as you can imagine when the whole class of 60 students pump up their lungs. Then we continue with incessant classes with short breaks until 22:00 at night . A lot of students has sleeping problems due to high stress and some even have psychological illness. Suicides happens. I have sleep difficulties as well and took sleep care medicine for consecutive three years in my high school life and even today my sleep problems trouble me.

Our teachers are two kinds: those practicing Fascism and those practicing Marxism. The former coerces, intimidates and even beats students when they are lazy and the latter portraits a heaven like promising life with wealth, status and respect after having a college degree to coax students to swallow their pains for a brilliant future. In the end both kinds will be loved by students who passed the college entrance exam. Some students who were beaten would forgive their perpetrators by saying “teacher beats me for my good”.

Even with such hellish endeavor, only 10% of the whole grade (around 600 students) will enter college in my high school, lest only less than 5% will enter a better one with national reputation. The rest will either end up resuming their parents’ fate as a farmer or being a migrant worker.

That is in 1990′s and I am one of those 5% by fortune. Although the college degree did get me a white-collar job and a decent life, I am now suspecting if it is worth the loss of my youth and drainage of my creativity, after all three years’ suffering. Even today, flashbacks of high school life sometimes woke me up from nightmares with a thankgod relief realizing it is just a dream. I found my high school has left a inerasable bitterness in my life and it will entangle with my soul all the time to the grave.

By: May

May — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 08:50:05 +0000

Firstly, this aticle is wonderful! My highschool time was stressful too. I am not hate it but I pity myself. I am a vitim of this kind of education system. Now I was graduated from University after I got my master degree in a so called famous university in China. But I am not happy at all, because I found my knowledge is no use in this economical society. I realize that I am a stupided one who do not know what I want and what I am living for, have no soul,no belief, no creativity at all. So who should be blamed? ME! Beacause I believed it(this education I receieved in school), I am a good student in school but I am a loser in the reality life. Even this situation is bad enough, but I want to change, more reading, diversity of books , not one . And keep learning , from the life , from others ,and live with heart…

By: Silvestra

Silvestra — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:44:11 +0000

@Boots: The answer to your question is actually very simple if you rephrase it a little: Who would profit from a people who, for the most part, are very uncritical, and discouraged to think for themselves, but only work? Someone who wants to secure the stability of the country, maybe? Someone who wants to secure their own power, such as the Chinese government for example? There you have it.
The education system is kept that way because they don’t WANT people to develop a sense of creativity and critical thinking. Critical thinking means a threat to the government. It would encourage people to question the situation they’re living in, the ways of the party, their political system.. we wouldn’t want that now, being a political leader, would we?

By: Bo Hu

Bo Hu — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:22:48 +0000

reminds me of so much of my old memories. absolutely a pleasure to read this! thanks so much!

By: bluegrass

bluegrass — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 06:42:20 +0000

This essay reminds me of my high school days,the very same as yours. It seems nothing ever changes after all these 6 years.

By: Boots

Boots — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 13:53:47 +0000

It seems Chinese kids heads are so full of knowledge they have no space for thoughts. I’ve managed several teams of Hk and mainland youngsters. Can anyone explain why it was always impossible to inspire them to solve unanticipated problems and use initiative? Is this the fault of Chinas education system? My lasting impression of working as a manager in China was that this country may never be a world leader in technology, the arts, services or anything high value. Robots cannot program themselves. Taiwanese people seem much smarter and more creative, with more imagination and sense of fun, empathy and willingness to take mental leaps. Thats probably why complex electronic components are invented in Taiwan and bashed together in China.