Students in Beijing to learn "honesty" in school

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-07-26 17:16

From September this year, 170,000 primary and middle school students in Chaoyang District of Beijing, capital of China, will have a new course of "honesty and credibility" in school.

"The textbooks have been compiled and we are contacting with the publishing house," said an official from the district's educational commission.
Chaoyang District will be the first place in China to make the education of honesty a part of the formal curriculum.

"Youngsters are the future of China," said the official. "We hope that we can bring them up as honest people."

China now has 367 million people under 18 years old. Recently, Chinese top leaders have ceaselessly urged to promote ethics education for juveniles, saying that schools are the main classroom, front and channel for the education. The Communist Party of China (CPC) also issued a package of proposals this spring on improving the ideology and moral conduct of youngsters.

To promote the ethical standard of students, the educational commission in Chaoyang began to compile the textbook in 2003. The textbook has three volumes which will meet the needs of different ages of students.

"My name is Xiao Cheng (honesty). I'm 11 years old. Do you know why I have such a name? Because my mother wants me to be honest." "I am Xiao Cheng's classmate. My name is Xiao Xin (credibility). We are neighbors and both in grade five."

The dialogue occurs in the prologue of the textbook "Honesty is in my heart", which is compiled for lower grades of primary schools. With 18 articles like "Honest child", "Speak honestly", " Admit your mistake" and
"Honesty is more important than full marks ", every article begins with a story and ends with questions.

To attract the lower-grade pupils, every article has been illustrated with a cartoon picture.

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