《英语散文》Whats lacking in our education?

Heading a group of Chinese-language teachers on a recent trip to China, the author visited schools in Beijing and Shandong province. He shares his observations and reflections with our readers.

HAVING visited two schools in China recently, I can't help but applaud the ideal of education upheld by the principals.

Like Singapore, China is witnessing a generation of young students who dislike reading. To tackle the problem, the principal of a primary school in Jinan city, capital of Shandong province, started a school-wide project of bookplate-making some years ago.

Now, high on the must-do list for the school, the activity has been taking place annually on a large scale. Not only are all the pupils required to make bookplates but the teaching staff are called on to help, too.

The art instructors are to teach the children how to make printing blocks out of plaster, with which bookplates will be printed. Teachers of other subjects will recommend to their pupils titles suitable for outside reading, highlighting the significance of attaching an Ex Libris onto a book they have read.

Then, pupils and teachers will put their collective works on show: bookplates along with brief reading reports. This has become the most eye-catching item among the school's achievements.

This way, not only are the children encouraged to read more, but a refined aesthetic sense is cultivated in them.

The principal's idea stemmed from a plain desire. With the aid of the time-honoured art of block print, he hoped to instil in the children a love for reading and appreciation of beauty, so that they can enjoy fun and pleasure while they learn and study.

A similar objective is achieved in a Beijing secondary school by having the students run a TV station of their own.

All work involved, from programme planning to backstage chores, is done by the students themselves. Even the student director of the TV station was elected on a one-man-one-vote basis by the whole school including the principal, teachers, and students.

The school provides limited funds plus basic facilities such as a simple film studio and tolerable equipment of post-production.

On a sultry summer day, I had a talk with the students working in the stuffy editing-room , and was deeply moved by their spirit.

The principal regularly shows the TV productions thus made during school assemblies, and invites all students to discuss and comment on the works about their contents and techniques.

As the TV productions are done as an extracurricular activity, the students' schoolwork is not compromised.

When interviewed by the visitors, the principal shared her experience, joy and pride in helping the students run their own TV station. She did not touch on the children's scholastic performance or results in various competitions.

I cannot help comparing education in Singapore with that in those two schools.

Our country values a strong administrative background in a school principal. The head of an educational institution must be an excellent administrator, but may not have a clear idea of education or the drive for bold moves beyond the set rules.