Tens of thousands of Chinese have joined a debate on whether students should be separated into science and liberal arts classes in high school, a practice that allows them to stay competitive in college entrance exam by choosing preferred subjects. The debate came after the Ministry of Education and began to ask for opinions from the public on Friday on whether it was necessary and possible to stop the dividing system, which has been accepted for decades.
In a survey started by www. qq. com, more than 260,000 people cast their votes as of Saturday, with 54 percent of those voted for the abolishment and 40 percent against.
A netizen from Chengdu said:" Science can activate the mind, while arts could strengthen their learning ability. "
But some people disagreed with him. A netizen nick-named "gentle scholar" said the students would have more burden if they have more subjects to study. "You don't even know how difficult the courses are. I suggest a survey among students. "
"Abolish the current system of division? We have to study nine subjects? Finally we will study everything and have learnt little," wrote another netizen.
Li Yanling, an education expert in Beijing, called on education authorities to consider students' school burden.
Chinese students are required to choose either arts or science subjects after ten years' education, which include six years in primary school, three years in junior high school and one year in senior high school.
Besides the Chinese language, mathematics and English, which are must for everyone, science students are required to take physics, biology and chemistry, while arts students study politics, history and geography.
