Expectations too much for some children

"I TAKE 10 EXTRACURRICULAR training courses each week, yet my exam scores are not so good. Every time I think about this I am full of tears." That's what a grade 5 pupil in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, wrote in a school essay. Beijing Youth Daily comments:

The pupil has a schedule that is busier than that of many adults. Extracurricular art lessons on Wednesday, PE lessons on Thursday, reading and math on Friday, English and fencing courses on Saturday, plus Chinese and basketball training on Sunday.

Data show that the market for extracurricular training was more than 800 billion yuan ($120.65 billion) in 2016, with at least 7 million people employed in the industry. Quite a high number of pupils have a greater academic burden from extracurricular training courses than from their own schools.