Basic education off track

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Inc, talks with students in a digital education class at the primary school affiliated with Communication University of China in Beijing on Tuesday. Cook also met with Vice- Premier Liu Yandong in Beijing, who said she appreciated Cook's continued innovative research and development at Apple after succeeding Steve Jobs. [Li Ming / Xinhua]

Quality education, or an educational model aimed at promoting students' all-round development, should be based on just basic education that gives students some basic knowledge and teaches them how to be a social person.

However, many parents expect the basic education to lay a solid foundation for a successful careers and lives for their offspring when they grow up. They want schools to impart their ideals and ambitions to young students, as they know what their youngsters learn at school will to a large extent influence their beliefs and values as they grow up. Such excessively utilitarian expectations have deviated basic education from its track.

Basic education is also endowed with excessive academic content. One would be shocked at the heavy and packed schoolbags schoolchildren carry every day. At such a young age, how can they be expected to learn so much knowledge?

School authorities are also expected to shoulder excessive responsibilities for children. For example, school managements are considered responsible for all incidents that occur to students either in or out of school. So, it is common that school authorities are distracted from teaching.

At the same time, many government officials understand the emphasis on basic education to be the construction of luxury buildings, and some even equate this with good performance.

The authorities should ensure that basic education is not endowed with too many unrealistic expectations.

The above is an abridgement of a China Youth Daily article published on Friday.