Earlier this month, first-graders at a primary school in the southern island province of Hainan noticed with delight their final exam papers were printed in different colors instead of the traditional black and white.
"Vivid colors can help cultivate the students' love for beauty, and can ease their stress during the exam," said Wu Aibao, an official with the local education authority.
In a nationwide move to arouse children's interest and creativity in their school work, most schools in the island province have also replaced traditional, matter-of-fact questions with ones that are closer to the students' daily lives.
"Have you read any good books recently and what new words have you learned from them?" was found on the test paper for first-graders at a primary school in the provincial capital Haikou.
Most parents were surprised at the question, as few could associate its informal tone with the rigid whats, hows and whys of the much stricter education and testing system they had known so well.
"We try to ask questions in a more amiable and friendly way in order to sound comforting and encouraging," said Guan Xinfeng, a primary school test paper designer. "Besides, this is a way to show our respect for the students, and to teach them to respect others."
Different testing times and durations have been arranged for children of different age groups so that the younger ones will not be under too much stress for too long.
All these are contrary to the traditional belief that students were subservient and had to obey their demanding masters in every way.
"It was a rule in China that students should kowtow to their teachers, and corporal punishment was once prevalent in schools around the world," said Professor Sun, of Hebei Normal University, in the northern city of Shijiazhuang.
"Today, teachers are working hard to remove the students' awe and be more caring in their teaching," he said.
Wang Zezhao, a teacher of Chinese for senior high students in the eastern port city of Qingdao, is one of the most ambitious reformers -- he ignored a textbook used by all schools nationwide and compiled his own reading materials from masterpieces for his class.
Unlike his colleagues, Wang never requires his students to stand and salute him at the beginning of a class. "You should respect me as your teacher, and I should respect all of you as my students. We are equals," the middle-aged teacher always says to his students.
Things such as what interests the students and what they want to find out are among the most frequently discussed questions among primary and secondary school teachers in the Chinese capital, Beijing.
"The students, not their teacher, should be the major speakers in the class," say school management officials in the Dongcheng District of Beijing, who have abolished the rule that prohibits latecomers from entering class without the teacher's prior permission.
Schools in the central Hubei Province have lifted bans on the students' use of the bathroom in the middle of a class, and shortened the school day for younger children.
In the eastern municipality of Shanghai, education officials are negotiating with local printing firms on the use of recycled paper for the students' textbooks and exercise books -- all to be made in a light yellow tone that will be easy on the children's eyes.
Most teachers and parents have noticed changes in the children. "My son is more relaxed and active," said a father in Beijing.
A more caring school life has also benefited teenage students, as even the national college entrance exam -- the most intense and dreaded competition for Chinese students -- is now designed to test their ability to put into practice what they have learned from textbooks, a dramatic change from the former, more rigid questions on how many formulas and texts they have remembered.
The annual exam is also changing: for the first time in its history, Beijing last year included listening comprehension as an integral part of the English test to enhance the youngsters' English proficiency in a globalized society.
Meanwhile, the Chinese government has decided that starting from this year, the exam will be held in June rather than July, so that students and their parents will not have to suffer from the midsummer heat.
(People's Daily January 22, 2003)
