An education in Chinese schooling

By Daisy Newton-Dunn
Producer, Chinese School

The Chinese believe reading aloud improves memory

The prospect of spending a year filming in Xiuning, a small town in rural southern China slightly filled me with dread.

Familiar with the country, but more with the delights and indulgences of Shanghai and Beijing, months on end in a faraway place with neither of these was not my idea of an exciting year.

But I could not have been more wrong.

Over 12 months we filmed in three different schools: a "key" school for the most intelligent, a "normal" school for the less academic and a "primary" school for disadvantaged children from poor mountain villages.

And it was the best education I could have hoped for.

I learnt more about real Chinese people, their beliefs and habits than scores of years in any of the east coast big cities could have taught me.

We were certainly helped by the support of the local Education Commission and the fantastic access we had to the students, teachers and schools.

Learning the correct answer to write on the exam paper is more highly prized than encouraging independent thought

Despite obvious interest, we were largely left alone with our Chinese fixer to film and explore what we wished.

On day one I was shocked by the dedication of the students.

Chinese children spend countless hours in the classroom, arriving at around 6am and leaving at about 10pm with just a few breaks in between for food and exercise.

All students are unanimously focused on the Gao Kao, the final year exam taken to get into university.

Particularly for students from the countryside, such as these, it is their only way out. Securing a place at a good university is synonymous with securing a comfortable life later and the curriculum seems entirely geared towards it.

'Mouth-watering dishes'

Learning the correct answer to write on the exam paper is more highly prized than encouraging independent thought.

Subjects studied are the usual mix of arts and sciences but with some added differences.

Chinese pupils are in school from 6am to 10pm

Politics is a compulsory subject, as are the daily eye exercises encouraged by Chairman Mao and the early morning "reading aloud" sessions believed to improve memory.

Teaching rooms are crowded and have little facilities other than a blackboard.

Heating is state supplied and none of the schools had any, so in the summer months I felt my flesh slowly roasting, while in the winter snow I watched as children's hands became swollen red and scarred with chilblains.

But it was not all black and white classroom grind.

Each major school event, such as the annual sports day or talent contest was initiated with an opening ceremony in brilliant colour where kung fu fighters and fan dancers paraded around the sports ground to the excited squeals of their classmates.

'Biggest lesson'

No less impressive were the school's canteens, which daily served up a rainbow of fresh, mouth-watering dishes for next to nothing that would put shame to any "glammed-up" school kitchen in the UK.

Childhood obesity simply does not exist.

Politics is compulsory in China

Is it possible to pick a favourite character or highlight from all that I learnt? Difficult to say.

But I think my biggest lesson was that despite their being differences between us, there are many more similarities.

I could gossip with the girls and talk sport with the boys, just as I might back home.

What of those Beijing pubs and Shanghai saloons? I'll take the local noodle bars in Xiuning thanks.

Chinese School begins on BBC Four on Tuesday, 8 April at 2100BST