Exam-centric education needs to be changed

China has been attaching great importance to both basic and higher education, for example, by allocating large resources for majors in science and engineering. Thanks to such measures, many students are scoring high marks in science. But not all students who score high marks in mathematic or science have the innovation capability.

The problem is that many parents and teachers force children to study math and science just to make sure they can enroll in a good college, not because they want the students to study science so they can develop their creative capability or become dedicated researchers. As a result, instead of studying science and math because they love the subjects, most Chinese students study the subjects to just get good scores in exams. Perhaps that is why so many Chinese students participate in "Math Olympiad" training-China has a far higher rate of participation compared with developed countries.

Worse, the way of thinking could also undermine scientific research in China as researchers would be driven by the evaluation criteria which tend to prioritize the number of papers being published over their academic quality. Thus, worthwhile scientific research may not be a priority and plagiarism could not be ruled out.

The need therefore is to change the exam-oriented education system so children can enjoy more free time which will allow them to use their curiosity and imagination in creative pursuits that are important for cultivating talents. Ironically, most of the students who get high scores in exams don't get the time to do so.

Xiong Bingqi, deputy director of the 21st Century Education Research Institute

The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.