Day in the Life of Chinese Elementary School Students

daily well-being. Dennis's older sister graduated from university two years ago and now works as a kindergarten teacher. Her father is a longd distanceance truck driver who is always from home most of the year while her mother stays at home to look after the family for most of the year. Estana, her sister and their mother living together in this apartment. My name is Sarah. I work at a hospital in New York. 20 of Oscar's paintings are stacked inside. >> In the remaining minutes before leaving home, Ben never lets time go to waste. He picks up her phone

and uses a moment to study English. In China, parents place great importance on their children's safety. So before middle school, most parents choose to pick up and drop off their kids every day. Dana's school is only about 0.5 miles from her home, easily within walking distance. This is a primary school Dana attends and covers about 5 acres with 24 planet classes, 1,300 students, and 77 teachers by the standard of major Chinese cities. It's considered a medium-siz primary school. This is Dana's class in grade 5 class 2 with a total of 57 students. Here

in their class schedule, Chinese, math, and English are the core subjects while science, art, music, physical education, and moral and legal education serve as supplementary courses. From this curriculum, it's clear that Chinese primary education places a strong emphasize on academic subjects. Today is the school's open day when body visitors are routed toward the campus. To avoid interrupting regular classes, the event is divided into two sessions. The morning session welcomes local officials, visiting teachers from other primary schools and

representatives from the surrounding community. The afternoon session is reserved for the students parents. After finishing their group music performance, Dennis class return to their regular lessons. Meanwhile, our camera continues to follow the visiting group as they tour the campus. One of the unique features of this primary school is it emphasize on having students from different grades learn at art form together. Through shared learning and interaction, students are encouraged to discover their own interests and talents. The final stop of the tour

is the school's auditorium. Here, the visiting group will hear about the school's educational practices, its teaching philosophy, and its plans for the future. Before the presentation begins, they will enjoy a performance by the school's youth wing assemble, a group nurture through the school's innovate teaching model. Heat. Heat. speech. Are you still woman of the deep Detroit as he To accommodate the school open day activities, the school moved lunch time for work by 30 minutes. Since a cafeteria can only sit about 800 students at once, some children

have their meals inside their classrooms. The dishes look appelling and well balanced with match, nuts, and carbohydrates. At first, I assumed this high quality lunch was prepared specially for event. So, I asked Dana what their meals are really like. at in the school. All students are required to eat lunch on campus for less than $2. They receive a full nutritious meal with unlimited servings plus food and bread as snacks afterward. All of this is included in that small fee. We will foreign. Okay. In recent years, China's Ministry of Education has

placed strong emphasize on education courty and information transparency. To respond to public concerns, primary and secondary schools across the country have gradually introduced open day events. In the past, parents could only rely on read admissions brochures to choose a school for their children. Today, open day allows them to see the campus firsthand. It environments, facilities, teaching quality, and a variety of courses. Schools and must present their authentic daily operations to earn parents trust. Generally, the stronger a school's performance,

the more willing it is to welcome parents onto campus. The demonstration class is the most important part of the entire open day. It provides a clearest picture of the school's actual teaching quality. Because of limited sitting, only a small number of parents are able to attend. In Chinese classrooms, the combination of chalkboard writing and PowerPoint is the most common teaching setup. Teachers outline key concepts and difficult points on the board while using slides to show images, examples, and practice questions. Chinese classrooms place a strong

emphasize on discipline and order. So, the learning environment is generally quiet. The teacher acts much like a director, delivering a clear and complete knowledge framework within a tight 45minute lesson. Students are accustomed to raising their hands, standing up to answer, and responding to the teacher in a unified voice. Wow. Heat. >> >> Today's primary schools in China look very different from the past. And the reason we can see the laughter and joy of the children on campus is largely due to China's 2021 policy aimed at reducing students academic

burden. In China, the college entrance examination, the gao is seen as a TK to the future. Students scores are tied not only to their teachers but also to the reputation of the entire school. As a result, schools kept adding homework and extending studying hours. The pressure trickled down from high school to middle school, then to primary school and even kindergarten began offering early prep classes. Parents grew anxious, teachers felt overwhelmed, and students could hardly breathe. Heavy homework loads and after school children turned childhood into

an early competition. It wasn't until the burden reduction policy was introduced that everything finally slowed down. Students were no longer ranked by public exam scores and schools shifted towards more process-based evaluation adding pressure on children. And that is why today we're able to see their laughter, freedom, and vitality return to the campus. After October, the school switches to its winger schedule and classes end at 4:30 in the afternoon. Students line up neatly in the hallway and leave the building in order to avoid crowding. Most urban

schools gather pickup points at a short distance away from the main gate. This boy is a son of Dana's mother's friend. He does his homework here every afternoon because while Dana's older sister tutors Dana, she could also help him with questions and corrections at the same time. >> >> Under China's burden reduction policy, teachers are required to assign only enough homework that students can finish within an hour. But for many Chinese families, academic performance is still seen as a pathway to the future. So on top of the schoolwork, Dana's sister

gives her additional tasks to strengthen her studies. As a result, Dana over spends about two hours completing everything for the day. Most Chinese families have dinner around 6:00 in the evening. But to give Dana enough time to finish her studies, her family always eats after 7. A simple dinner, one dish, one soup, and a staple is a norm in many Chinese households. The soup is usually a green porridge. The vegetables are whatever is in season, and the staple is a plain baked flatbread. Dana did well today, so as a small reward, her sister ordered her

Free Milk tea. The whole family walked downstairs together to pick it up from a shop near the entrance of their building. When they returned home, Dana didn't drink it right away. Instead, she tucked it inside her clothes to keep it warm, waiting for her sister to come back so they could enjoy it together. Dana's mother is a full-time homemaker who cooks for her, does laundry, and takes her children to school. Her father is a longhaul truck driver working day and night on the road to support a family. We've also documented a day is live on our channel.

Dana's older sister gives up her own rest time every evening to help her with homework and studies. In this family, everyone contributes in their own way to help Dana grow. She may not fully understand it yet. She just knows someone picks her up from school. Someone makes her meals. Someone sits beside her while she studies. But from an outsider's view, this is a precious kind of happiness to be cared for, to be watched over, to be loved without conditions. And this is a day in the life of Dana. An ordinary yet heartwarming day of a Chinese elementary

school student.