Preschool kids need new ideas, not old rules

Liang, a male kindergarten teacher, assists the kids in outdoor activities. Playing games is an important way to teach but also a tiring job for the teachers. [Photo/CFP]

Beijing education authorities launched inspection tours of kindergartens this week to ensure that children are not overburdened with schoolwork.

Although Chinese, mathematic and English are supposed to be taught to primary school students, it is not uncommon to see preschool-age children across China being forced to study these subjects. Preschool education should focus on cultivating children's behavior rather than focusing on books, because forcing children to learn primary school lessons in a kindergarten could reduce their interest in learning.

In 2012, the Ministry of Education told kindergartens not to burden pupils with schoolwork on the pretext of holding special or experimental classes. The ministry also directed kindergartens not to assign homework to preschool children. But in practice, few local education authorities and kindergartens have followed the rule. Some kindergartens claim to abide by the regulation but still teach preschool children Chinese, math and English.

Fully implementing this regulation, therefore, has become difficult.

First, despite the educational authorities reiterating that children should be admitted to neighborhood primary schools without taking any test, there is still competition for admission, because the number of applicants exceeds the available seats. Primary schools that cannot admit all the applicants have to set some criterion to select the children, and the most common one is to test their knowledge.

If the ministry's directive were to be followed in letter and spirit, parents would have to send their children to social training institutions, which will fail to reduce the pressure of studies on children. In addition, it will increase parents' anxiety and economic burden. So, simply directing kindergartens not to teach pupils primary school lessons is not enough.

Besides, social training institutions cannot be stopped from teaching preschool pupils primary school lessons or subjects, because the ministry's directive applies only to schools and kindergartens within the public education system. Many preschool social training institutions are supervised by industrial and commercial bureaus, not the education authorities.

Second, some kindergartens try to impose primary school lessons on their pupils because of the existing education system. Although the education authorities have reformed senior high school and college entrance examinations, students still get entry into colleges on the basis of their academic performance. As a result, many primary schools focus on teaching only the subjects that are included in entrance exams, which influences the teaching pattern from kindergartens to high schools.

Little wonder then that students in China begin preparing for the college entrance exam right from their preschool days. In fact, many parents want to get their children admitted to kindergartens that also teach primary school subjects. This is a vicious circle, which students, teachers and parents can come out of only when pluralistic evaluation replaces the exam-oriented evaluation method.

A big question is: How can the teaching quality of kindergartens be evaluated if they are banned from teaching primary school subjects? Kindergartens should come up with new preschool education ideas to improve children's cognitive capability and develop their personalities. Perhaps they should introduce a peer evaluation mechanism, judging children's adaptability, endurance and dedication from the games and other peer-related activities they indulge in.

To ensure children have a happy childhood, we have to provide them with a healthy environment by further reforming the education system. It's hard to get rid of primary school-style kindergartens by only passing regulations. Surprise inspections by the education authorities will not help end this phenomenon either, because during inspections kindergartens can pretend that they do not hold classes to teach primary school lessons. In such a case, the regulations and inspections will turn into a hide-and-seek game between kindergartens and the education authorities.

The author is vice-president of the 21st Century Education Research Institute.