A New Craze

By Ji Jing

In July the central authorities issued new guidelines to reduce the excessive burden of homework and after-school tutoring on students. The guidelines， also known as the “double reduction” policy， apply to all students in the compulsory education stage. According to the policy， curriculum-based after-school training institutions are not allowed to teach during national holidays， weekends or winter and summer vacations. As a result， students have more time to participate in sports， and sports training institutions are gaining momentum.

In Chongqing Municipality， the father of a grade three primary school student surnamed Zeng previously took his son to study at several curriculum-based training institutions each weekend， which both found exhausting. Now， after the implementation of the new policy， his son no longer attends the training institutions on the weekends and Zeng takes him to learn how to play basketball every Sunday afternoon.

Zeng told Shangyou News， a local news portal， that he had previously been busier on weekends than on weekdays， but after the implementation of the policy， he and his son now have time for basketball， which is one of his sons favorite sports.

As the number of children signing up for sports training increases， so does the diversity of sports they are enjoying. Baseball， fencing and equestrian are also becoming more fashionable， in addition to more common sports such as football and basketball.

Shifting focus

For a long time in China， there has been an overemphasis on academic test scores， as the scores are the overarching criteria for entrance into institutions of higher learning. Now， the country is seeking to look beyond scores and nurture well-rounded students with high moral standards， physical fitness， art literacy as well as work ethics and skills.

Physical fitness is an increasingly important criterion in evaluating students performance in school， and physical education （PE） tests have been made part of the high school entrance exam or zhongkao. In a press conference on September 3， the Ministry of Education announced the weight of the PE exam scores in high school admission will be gradually increased to match that of Chinese， mathematics and English.

The move aims to improve the health of teenagers， which has caught the authorities attention in recent years. According to statistics published by the National Health Commission in July last year， the rate of myopia， or nearsightedness， among children and teenagers reached 52.7 percent in 2020. In the same year， the percentage of overweight or obese children reached nearly 20 percent for those aged between 6 and 17， and over 10 percent for those aged under 6. Sports are regarded as an effective way to prevent both myopia and obesity.