A member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and director of the Information Intelligence Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences recently said that Chinese students are forced to devote more time to studying English and thus neglect other subjects, which is detrimental to the Chinese education system and the Chinese language. The remark is not only biased, but also sensational, says an article on rednet.cn. Excerpts:

Neither does English enjoy supreme status in education, as the CPPCC member has claimed, nor is it more important than any of the subjects that students have to study in schools. The problem is that educators have not made it clear to students why English should be a part of the school syllabus and why they should study it.

The real purpose of teaching English to school students is to help them communicate with the outside world and capitalize on the vast ocean of advanced information available in English. But statistics show that many college students, after spending vast amounts of their time and energy learning English, have ended up with jobs that do not require the use of the language.

Since English is only a tool for communication, students should spend more time on learning or honing professional skills rather than mastering the language if it only helps them clear the exams. In this sense, learning English is a waste of time and energy for most students.

To truly integrate into the international community, we not only need passion and courage, but also a clear idea about how and why English should be taught in schools. Chinese people should not be biased against the teaching of English. Instead, they should reflect on how English as a language should be taught without compromising the importance of other subjects.

(China Daily 03/26/2013 page9)