When learning is labor lost

The true value of education is not economic success but pursuit of knowledge and development of personality

Students from Shanghai continued their impressive performance at the 2012 Program for International Student Assessment, taking the first place in mathematic, reading and science. The results of the tests, conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development every three years, has once again sparked a debate over whether other countries and regions should draw inspiration from Shanghai's "success". Incidentally, Shanghai students had also led the field in 2009, when the last tests were held.

In February, British Education Minister Elizabeth Truss led a delegation to Shanghai and visited a local junior high school to observe the city's teaching practices. Although it may not be in Chinese people's interest to comment on the British delegation's fact-finding mission, at least two facts revealed by the media deserve attention.