Society

Lack of exercise means students likely to carry a heavy burden

By Gao Qihui (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-11-05 07:36

Principals points

He Wenlong, 10, feels the burn during a 10-day summer camp designed to help children lose weight in Changsha, capital of Hunan province. The course helped He to shave 500 grams from his 57-kilogram frame. [Li Ga / Xinhua]

Naturally, China's exam-obsessed education system is taking much of the blame for the deterioration in students' conditions. "It's the root reason," said Sun Yunxiao, deputy director of the China Youth and Children Research Center. "The emphasis is on test scores, not physical well-being. Pupils are being assigned too much homework, leaving no time for exercise."

Students told China Daily that scheduled PE classes at their schools and colleges often make way for extra study time or are shortened by other classes running long. At many public elementary schools, students are not even allowed to leave the classrooms during recess, according to Zhang Min, 36, whose 10-year-old daughter attends Hepingli No 9 Primary School in Beijing's Dongcheng district.

"Basically, schools are afraid of taking responsibility if students get injured during activities or exercises, so they stop students leaving the classroom," said Jin Pansuo, mother of a fifth-grader at the capital's Huixinli Elementary School.

"My son risks being punished (by the teachers) if he runs or makes a noise during class breaks," she added.

Veteran teacher Wang at the UIBE explained that many school principals are wary of China's growing litigation culture, which is being largely fueled by parents from one-child families.

Last month, a primary school in Shanghai's Minhang district was ordered to pay more than 50,000 yuan ($7,500) to a student who broke his right arm playing leapfrog during recess.

"If a child gets injured, the school or university takes the blame," he said. "So to avoid problems, schools set lower standards for their students and PE instructors tend to go more easy."

But it is not only schools are to blame. Families too are falling short when it comes to encouraging children to lead healthy lifestyles.

A 2009 survey of 300 primary and middle school students in Beijing by the China National Institute for Educational Research (CNIER) found that 74 percent had never taken part in any form of exercise with their parents.

Almost 70 percent of respondents also complained they are often banned from leaving the house after school to play or exercise with friends.

"I have to do my homework after school and have no spare time for exercise," said Shi Yang, a second-grade student at a middle school in Beijing's Chaoyang district.

Shi has attended extra classes every Saturday since she started as a senior, although she added that some elementary students get only half a day of rest on weekends.

One of those youngsters is Zhang Min's daughter. "I've signed her up for two weekend classes, dancing and English," said Zhang, who like many parents believe children involved in extra-curricular activities stand a better chance of getting into good schools and colleges.

More than two-thirds of the students interviewed by the CNIER last year said they spend more than two hours doing homework every day, with the same proportion also enrolled in after-school classes during weekends and holidays.

Zhang said she is fully aware of the pressure her daughter is under but "as there's such tough competition for good middle schools, she has to cope with it".

The entrance examination is too difficult for elementary school students because the content is beyond what the pupils are taught in class, she added.