Education mill saps students of their motivation

Editor's Note: Summer vacation becomes a "third semester" for most Chinese primary and middle school students. On the other hand, many students who have already enrolled in a college tend to turn the vacation into a celebration of "freedom". Two experts share their views on the "vacation" phenomenon with China Daily's Yao Yuxin. Excerpts follow:

Develop interests to motivate students

Many students and their parents in China regard passing the college entrance examination (or gaokao) as the ultimate goal of academic life. Almost all students study hard up to senior high school to get higher grades in every subject, and be in a better position to excel in gaokao and get admitted to a "good" university. For the students know, or their parents hammer into them the fact, that once they get admitted to a "good" university, fewer challenges lie between them and a college diploma.