New School Rules: Less Exams, Less Pressure

China’s exam-oriented system is going through a huge change: six- and seven-year-olds will no longer have written exams, helping take off a major load of pressure for both students and their parents.

“Too frequent exams […] cause students to be overburdened and under huge exam pressure,” which is why the Ministry of Education has decided to axe them, according to their guidelines, adding that too much pressure on young kids “harms their mental and physical health.”

Also part of the new rules is an end to private tutoring on weekends and holidays in core subjects. Also, teachers must rotate schools every six years to avoid top talents concentrating in some schools. These changes are aimed at reducing the country’s education inequalities. The Ministry of Education has also reviewed its position on homework: first and second graders no longer have written ones, and junior high students have a maximum of 1.5 hours per night of homework. This complements the government of China’s earlier efforts to ease children’s life at school with a ban on corporal punishment.