Change on horizon for Guangzhou's schools
By Liang Qiwen (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-02-23 09:16

A drastic, central government-backed education reform will start moving through high schools in Guangdong in September.

Through the move - maybe one of the biggest reform pushes since 1949 when the People's Republic of China was founded - students' academic achievements in Guangzhou, capital of the southern province of Guangdong, will be for the first time measured in credit hours. In addition, their courses will become selective and the size of their classes will be reduced.

A new student appraisal system, known as the "growing record," will also be initiated.

And sources from the Provincial Educational Department say it is likely that in a couple of years, colleges in Guangdong will adjust requirements for undergraduate applicants and use the "growing record" as a reference for making decisions about admissions.

The provincial reform, which will look to evaluate students in a comprehensive way, is regarded as comparative to education systems in Western countries such as the United States.

Gao Lingfeng, one of the top officials from the Institution Centre of Basic Education and Courses at South China Normal University, said that in the future, even the grade point average system - known as the GPA system throughout much of the world - will be introduced in Guangdong.

The "growing record" will be based mainly on marks, in addition to teachers' comments. It will be declared in class each week, an unnamed teacher from the city's Zhixin Middle School told China Daily.

"It is hard for a teacher to treat a student unfairly under this rule," the teacher said. If a student thinks his or her record is unfair, they can appeal.

The "growing record" is being introduced to try and provide a quality education, which society has been demanding for many years.

Students' final results are expected to combine examination marks and the "growing record." The new education system is widely expected to help lead to deepening teaching material and course reforms.

Beginning in September when the autumn 2004 semester starts, senior high school students in Guangdong will be able to choose their courses freely. According to the Courses Programme for Senior High School, which has been approved by the Ministry of Education, all of the courses will be grouped into requirements and electives.

When the students graduate, their requirement credits must total at least 116 and their electives must not be less than 28.

Under their elective courses, students will mix with people from different classes and even different grades, which is similar to the situation in colleges or universities.

Under the new system, courses will fall into eight different fields, including linguistics and literature, and sciences and arts.

Traditionally, there would be 40 or 50 students in a large high school class and they would all have to study the same course at the same time.

But under the new system, every class will have no more than 10 students.

However, some students and their parents are concerned about choosing an adequate course. Analysts pointed out that guidance will be more important once the elective system is introduced.

Gao told China Daily that unlike the role high school teachers used to play, each teacher should also become an instructor, advising students about what classes to take.

"Meanwhile, the education departments will publish guidelines for the students to help them make their choices," he said.

The new system was announced on Thursday to the grade three junior high school students in Guangzhou.

As the programme will come later in the year, they will be the only ones immediately affected. And the overwhelming majority of the students have welcomed the move.

The mother of one of the teenagers, surnamed Mo, said: "It is a positive step. My daughter can now spend more time on her favourite subject. Although I am worried that the "growing record" could be a little bit unfair for certain students as it may still be subjective."

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