CHINESE EDUCATION SYSTEM FROM AN INTERVIEW TO: Liu qiuwen Pang yue

1-3 years: home/ nursery Most of the children stay at home with mothers or grand parents who take care of them; Few children go to the nursery all the day, where babies play, eat, sleep, …, because parents work.

4-6 YEARS: KINDERGARTEN 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. All children go to the kindergarten where they play, but also begin to learn to write and to count.

7-13 years: primary school 8:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m. Children spend all day at primary school playing and studying different subjects like Chinese, Music, Art, Science, Maths, English, Virtue (where they learn what they should do or not) and Gym. Some children eat at school, instead, some of them go home.

13-15 years: MIDDLE SCHOOL 8:00 a.m.- 5:00/8:00 p.m. (it depends on the different areas of China and on the headmaster of the school) Each lesson takes 45 minutes, and between every lesson there are 10 minutes of break. For the lunch they have 2h:30 min (11:30 a.m.-2:00 p.m.). They study: Chinese, Chemistry, Physic (very important), Geography, philosophy (including policy and behaviour), Biology, History, English, Arts, Math, Music.

16-18 years: high school 7:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m. Hours for each lesson are the same as middle school’s ones and students always have 2h:30 min for lunch. The choice of High School depends on how proficient you are and on family’s income. But if you have good marks but your family has a low income, you are intitled to have a scholarship.

High School lasts three years: In the first year they study Chinese, Maths, English, Gym, Computer, Science, History, Politics, Physical, Chemstry, Geography, Biology,Art and Music. From the second year, you chose to specialize in literature, science or art.