What's the buzz

Huang Yanru, a member of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, has proposed shortening the current 12-year elementary, middle, and high school education to 9 years, to allow young people to begin their work and plan their life earlier. Do you support this and why? China Daily's mobile phone news readers share their views:

I am a 23-year-old senior college student who is about to graduate in the second half of the year, but have no knowledge of society. After working for two or three years, I'll probably get married and have a child, but if I want to progress in my career, I have to delay my marriage and perhaps miss my best childbearing years. Therefore, I think it would be better for students to have five years of primary education and three years of college education.

LIANGJINHUI, Xinxiang, Henan province

I don't think it is a good idea to shorten the number of years children study, since, be it marriage or job, jumping into it at an early age is not necessarily wise. In my opinion, the accumulation of experience and knowledge depends on an increasing age. Shortening the duration of their schooling would indeed enable students to enter society earlier, but no one can guarantee they will be mentally mature enough to fit into society.

YUEYUE, Huanggang, Hubei province

As a senior student about to graduate this summer, I think Huang's proposal is of value. I don't think the number of years spent studying will affect the accumulation of knowledge and improvements in skills. But the unduly long duration does deprive students of social experience and possibly makes them too fickle to adapt to society.

LAOBAI, Jinzhong, Shanxi province

It is too one-sided and impractical a proposal to shorten the number of years for primary and college education. The current 12-year system, which has been implemented for many years, cannot be drastically changed overnight. It is not necessarily true that a student can only learn how to adapt to society after graduation and it requires time for people to adapt. Therefore, it would be better to ask the education authorities and schools to reform education methods and textbooks so that teachers can be more engaged in cultivating students' individual qualities instead of focusing on scores too much.

A READER, Chongqing Municipality

I support reform, and suggest that students spend four years in primary school and two in middle school because the six years in primary school regulated at present are always used for repetitive education. To guarantee a happy childhood for students, it is enough to combine kindergarten and primary school together in four years and give two years to middle school for the transition to senior high school.

TIANKONG, Suzhou, Jiangsu province

In my opinion, the education authority might try a more flexible system, by which I mean students could have the right of choice and decision-making when it comes to the content and duration of the compulsory education they receive, just like the credit system adopted in some universities. The current fixed education system fails to respect the difference in students' gifts and personalities.

JASON, Foshan, Guangdong province

(China Daily 01/20/2014 page9)