Sun Ruifeng, a mother in Beijing, changed some of her plans for her 8-year-old son’s summer vacation. She looked for an English tutoring (辅导) course, but in the end, she changed it to a swimming training class.

Sun’s choice is part of the result of the government’s growing efforts to reduce the academic pressure (学业压力) on young students.

On July 24, 2021, Chinese government introduced a guideline to reduce the academic pressure on primary and junior high school students. It lists requirements in areas such as reducing the amount and the difficulty of homework and improving the quality of education and after-class services provided by schools.

For example, homework for children below the third grade is not allowed, while homework for junior high school students should take no longer than 90 minutes to finish.

According to the guideline, tutoring institutions (机构) cannot teach students content that students haven’t learnt at school. No tutoring courses can be taught on weekends, national holidays or during winter and summer vacations.

The moves aim to guide the educational training industry to focus on improving students’ all-round quality, Chen Xianzhe, a professor at South China Normal University, told Xinhua.

According to Global Times, more than 75 percent of Chinese children who live in cities, from grade 1 to grade 12, take part in tutoring programs.

This has led to many social problems such as students’ falling levels of physical fitness, more mental health problems and huge family costs, said Chu Zhaohui, a senior researcher with the National Institute of Education Sciences.

Many parents showed their support for the new moves. However, there are also some worries. A parent from Shanxi said that although she agreed with the new moves, she worried about what her son would do after school if both parents have no time to be with him.

According to the guideline, primary and middle schools are asked to offer after-school services, including homework tutoring, sports, arts, reading and interest groups.

Sheep always follow each other and never really think about where they are going. Perhaps fashion makes us into “sheep”. Maybe we should find our own way and not follow the crowd. Everyone wants to wear top brand clothing. However, we should remember that clothes designers (设计师) study what ordinary people wear on the street. Then they make clothes like ordinary people's for everyone. Therefore, fashion really starts with individual (个人的) finding a new look. Then a company uses that look and then it becomes fashionable! That doesn't mean you will. That is to say, a model might look perfect in a shirt but that doesn't mean you will.

The same goes for mobile phones. Young people are always asking me when to change my mobile phones. Mobile phone companies are always putting new functions on their phones but do we really need all these extra functions? I use my phone to call people and to send messages to my friends. I don't need a camera, Internet surfing or a calendar on my phone. Again, if you buy the latest phone, it will only be the latest phone for a month or so. Then something new will come out and you'll be unfashionable again. You can't keep up with fashion all the time, so you don't need to follow the fashion.