City, Country: Suzhou, China (苏州，中国)
School: Suzhou Lida Middle (Secondary) School (苏州立达中学)
Educational Structure (Suzhou 苏州 —— part of Jiangsu 江苏 province)
It is based on the national system for public education, which includes primary schools, middle schools and universities. It is compulsory for all students to go through at least 9 years of education in China. The academic curriculum consists of Chinese, Mathematics, English, Physics, Biology, Geography, History, Ideology and Political Science, Music, Fine Arts, Physical Education, Technology, Computing etc. Some schools may also offer vocational subjects. Generally speaking, Chinese, Mathematics, and English are considered as three main subjects as they will definitely be tested in 高考. Students also need to be tested in either natural or social sciences. Most students will first spend 3 years in kindergarten from age 3-5, followed by 6 years in primary school from age 6-11. They will then undergo 3 years in junior middle school from age 12-14, afterwards they will spend 3 years in either secondary professional school, vocational high school or senior middle school, from age 15-17. Students can then choose to spend another 2 years to further their studies in secondary professional schools or spend 3 years in professional schools of higher education. They will then spend 4-5 years studying as undergraduates, after which they will spend another 2-3 years studying as Master’s Candidates. Students can then choose to either join the workforce or continue their studies for another 3 years as Doctoral Candidate.
About the School: Suzhou Lida Middle School (its History, Strengths, and Average School Days)
School: Suzhou Lida Middle (Secondary) School (苏州立达中学)
Educational Structure (Suzhou 苏州 —— part of Jiangsu 江苏 province)
It is based on the national system for public education, which includes primary schools, middle schools and universities. It is compulsory for all students to go through at least 9 years of education in China. The academic curriculum consists of Chinese, Mathematics, English, Physics, Biology, Geography, History, Ideology and Political Science, Music, Fine Arts, Physical Education, Technology, Computing etc. Some schools may also offer vocational subjects. Generally speaking, Chinese, Mathematics, and English are considered as three main subjects as they will definitely be tested in 高考. Students also need to be tested in either natural or social sciences. Most students will first spend 3 years in kindergarten from age 3-5, followed by 6 years in primary school from age 6-11. They will then undergo 3 years in junior middle school from age 12-14, afterwards they will spend 3 years in either secondary professional school, vocational high school or senior middle school, from age 15-17. Students can then choose to spend another 2 years to further their studies in secondary professional schools or spend 3 years in professional schools of higher education. They will then spend 4-5 years studying as undergraduates, after which they will spend another 2-3 years studying as Master’s Candidates. Students can then choose to either join the workforce or continue their studies for another 3 years as Doctoral Candidate.
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| Educational Pathways: From Bottom to Top |
About the School: Suzhou Lida Middle School (its History, Strengths, and Average School Days)
The school we will be visiting is Suzhou Lida Middle School (苏州立达中学). It is sister schools with our school, River Valley High School. The school was created in 1996 by Suzhou High School of Jiangsu Province for the mission of offering decent education to a growing body of junior high school students. The average school day lasts from 7.30am to 5pm,with a two hour lunch break in the middle. The school offers many excellent facilities, such as gyms, laboratories and centres of arts such as music, ballet and painting. Its dormitories, designated for students from afar, are superb in terms of both accommodation and learning. The school also features an envied team of instructors boasting, in its over 160 members faculty, 2 honoured and 45 experienced teachers. Since it’s founding, the teachers of the school have won over 77 awards across a wide range of competitions held in suzhou, jiangsu and nationwide. The school has also seen an annual publication of over 100 educational research papers. The students are extraordinary too. A good number of Lida students have been recommended to top senior high schools both at home and abroad. Senior high graduates with Lida backgrounds merit high acclaims too. In college entrance examinations, one Lida graduate ranked first in Suzhou, and two topped the rest in Jiangsu Province. Overall, 15 students with aforementioned backgrounds have been doing or have done their first degree at Tsinghua University and Beijing University; over 50 students at American universities such as Harvard, Yale, and MIT, Cambridge and Oxford in the United Kingdom, and University of Tokyo and Waseda University in Japan. To keep ahead of global moves and stay competitively in the avant-garde in administering junior high school education, Suzhou Lida Middle School is actively pursuing international exchange with schools across the world towards carrying out, through joint efforts, a broad path to lead both faculty and students to an educational undertaking par excellence.
Questions
1. What keeps the students motivated to continue learning?
2. How do they cope with the huge stress that they have?
3. What happens when the student is unable to cope with their studies e.g.fail?
