Plan to teach pupils practical skills welcome

The fresh emphasis by education authorities on a curriculum aimed at improving students' practical skills is expected to shift the authorities' approach to China's controversial education model and promote all-round development of teenage students.

In a recent circular jointly issued by two agencies working for the betterment of teenagers and the Ministry of Education, the latter says a practical skill-related curriculum will be set for the last six years of students' nine-year compulsory education program. The curriculum will include housekeeping, cooking, handicraft, gardening and non-material cultural heritage, and schools will assign students homework like washing dishes and clothes, sweeping floors and sorting items.

According to a ministry official, the current education model that overemphasizes students' academic performance while ignoring the cultivation of their labor skills and practical abilities has prompted the authorities to shift their approach and opt for the new curriculum for the nine-year compulsory education. In view of worrisome problems inherent in the education model and among the majority of teenage students, most of whom are the only and spoilt children of their parents, the addition of a practical curriculum is welcome.