The education department of Zhejiang province in East China has sparked a debate after soliciting public opinions on a draft regulation that would reduce the workload for pupils and allow them to refuse to do any homework after 9:00 pm. China Daily writer Zhang Zhouxiang comments:

It’s a move that will no doubt be welcomed by children in the province. And for the happy, healthy development of pupils, it is good to stop them sitting at a desk all evening doing homework.

Yet on domestic social networks, the draft has met fierce opposition from parents.

There is very practical reason for that — the national college entrance exam. As long as pupils have to compete on points to enter colleges, all such moves to ease the academic burden on children will be in vain.

A diploma from a good college is still one of the most important prerequisites for getting a good job. In order to enter a good college, one has to get high marks in the entrance exam. But in order to get high points, students must repeatedly practice and do their homework.

Under this system, pupils and their parents have little choice but to work hard. If the academic workload in schools is cut, they will just turn to extracurricular training agencies instead.

Worse, that will disadvantage the children of poorer families, because market demand will push up the already high prices so that only rich families will be able to afford to send their children to good training institutions or hire professional home teachers. In that way, the regulation will be unfair.

Of course, the real question is how to reform the college entrance system so that the national entrance exam s not the be-all and end-all for children’s futures.

It would be irresponsible to advocate cancelling gaokao, too, because that’s the only fair college entrance mechanism acceptable to all. The proper way is to improve it instead of canceling it.

Instead of addressing a symptom, comprehensive education reform is needed to treat the illness and ensure children have well-rounded childhoods, rather than just study, study, study.