Chinese kids do almost 3 hours of homework a day, 3 times world average
Only three?
A new study has discovered that Chinese kids do almost a Xi Jinping’s speech worth of homework every night.
The report, issued by Afanti (阿凡题), a Chinese AI-oriented education platform, used data taken from its 100 million registered users, as well as from its 100 physical stores, finding that over the last three years, Chinese elementary and middle school students averaged 2.82 hours of homework a day.
That’s actually down a bit from the company’s last survey, which found that Chinese students were averaging 3.03 hours of homework daily. However, it’s still reported to be three times the world average, not to mention 3.7 times the average in Japan, and 4.8 times the average in South Korea.
According to one study, in 2012, the average American 15-year-old was spending just six hours a week on homework. Little wonder that they were outpaced so long by Chinese third-graders.
Of course, there’s been much debate about whether loading kids up with this much homework is really a good thing to do. Apart from simply placing so much pressure on kids, the Chinese education system has often been criticized for emphasizing rote memorization while failing to nurture creative thinking skills in students.
Meanwhile, all of this homework not only stresses out kids, but their parents as well. China News Service reports that an article titled “What have I done wrong to get the punishment of helping my kid do his homework?” recently went viral on WeChat. In the article, a mom complained that she would often lose her temper while trying to help her son with his homework.
Other parents agreed, saying that they had even ended up in the hospital with heart attacks over their children’s homework. Earlier this year, one Chongqing father expressed his frustration with his son not doing his work by crucifying the kid on the street.
