China debates as student lambasts exams

Shanghai, April 17 (IANS) A school student has spoken up against the country's exam-oriented education system, triggering debate in China.

Jiang Chengbo, a student at Huilong High School in Jiangsu province, delivered a critical speech at a weekly flag-raising ceremony April 9, reported Shanghai Daily.

He said: "Investigation has shown Chinese students rank at the bottom of the world in terms of calculation ability and creativity."

"Some of us live in jealousy," he added.

He went on: "They are jealous of those who score higher in exams ... Some of us live in loneliness. They bury themselves in doing exercises so that they don't have any good friends. We cannot feel the love of parents, for they are either at work or pushing us to prepare for exams... We cannot feel the respect of teachers, for they are always forcing us to study for their enrollment rates."

Jiang's speech took the teachers completely by surprise as it was not the original one that had been approved.

The speech was well received by students and also by internet users.

A school student said that student life is colourless and there is no all-round development because "scores are everything".

Yu Han, another student, said that "although Jiang's words are a little exaggerated, the examination-oriented education has greatly oppressed the nature of the students".

"Benliuweizhi" wrote on the microblogging site Weibo.com: "It is not strange to hear those words from the mouth of a high school student, and Jiang's courage to speak up is admirable."