The Endless Tunnel
Strictly speaking, this is not a letter, because it is not written in the format of one. It is closer to a short essay. In it, I share some thoughts about the seven years of education I experienced in China, along with a few simple observations I made after coming to Canada.
Author’s Note
This article was written during my first summer after arriving in Canada. At that time, I looked back on the seven years of education I experienced in China and recorded some personal observations.
Reading it again now, I can clearly feel that my way of thinking has changed. Because of this, I made some minor revisions to certain expressions to make the language more rational, while still preserving the overall thinking of that time.
I believe that documenting the evolution of one’s thinking is itself part of growth.
Originally, I planned to write several letters to you. Unfortunately, because I also had to prepare for an English exam, I ended up writing only one. I chose what I believe is the most important topic and would also like to hear your thoughts.
Why do I think this topic matters so much?
The 17th-century educator John Amos Comenius, often called the "father of modern education," once wrote: "Only after receiving an appropriate education can a person truly become a person." At the moment, we are all in secondary school and have our own experiences and reflections about school life. For that reason, I believe this topic is worth discussing.
Next, I will talk about some of my views on primary school and middle school, along with a few pieces of information I found online.
Primary School
Let's start with the stage most familiar to us: primary school.
Although only Tong Yiyan and Cheng Jiale were my classmates in primary school, we have always communicated a lot, so we still have some understanding of each other's experiences.
When people talk about primary school, the first thing that often comes to mind is academic performance. In many situations, grades almost determine a student's position and influence within the class. The idea of "well-rounded development," in practice, often still revolves around academic results.
But I want to make one objective point: grades cannot fully represent a person's abilities or character, nor can they determine a person's overall value.
So why do schools still place such strong emphasis on grades?
One practical reason is that China has a very large population, while educational resources and job opportunities are limited. Under these conditions, schools often need a simple and intuitive metric that allows easy comparison. Grades happen to serve this function.
In contrast, things like cognitive ability, practical skills, and independent thinking are also important, but they are much harder to measure and compare directly.
Of course, this does not mean that studying in school has no value. My point is that besides academic performance, we should also pay attention to other important abilities, such as reading, communication, thinking, and practical skills.
Status and Influence in School
Another topic is the selection of class leaders, group leaders, and similar roles—what I previously described as "status" and "influence."
These roles exist for two main reasons.
First, from a management perspective, teachers need some students to help handle class affairs, such as maintaining order, delivering information, or organizing activities. For students, these positions often represent recognition and responsibility.
Second, these roles also test certain abilities, including communication, organization, and social skills.
However, in reality, not everyone has the opportunity to take on these roles. Many students ultimately place most of their attention on academic results, while paying less attention to developing other abilities.
The Reality of "Well-Rounded Development"
Here I want to add another reason why so-called "well-rounded development" often still revolves around grades in practice.
For example, some primary school students who aim to enter better middle schools not only attend tutoring classes, but also learn instruments such as piano, guitar, or guzheng, or participate in competitions and extracurricular activities.
On the surface, this appears to be multi-dimensional development.
But in many cases, these activities are still treated as additional advantages in academic competition. When the evaluation system remains centered on academic performance, other activities are easily absorbed into the same competitive framework.
Of course, primary school is not entirely negative. At least during that stage, we still had more time to make friends, read books, participate in activities, and encounter many new things.
(I would also like to take a moment to acknowledge the reading club from those years.)
Middle School
Next comes middle school.
For many people, middle school is the stage where pressure increases significantly. Many families treat getting into a "good middle school" as a major goal, as if completing this step will guarantee a smoother life afterward.
But from a longer-term perspective, middle school is only one stage in the educational path. After that come high school, university, and the challenges of entering society.
Since the issue of grades has already been discussed, I want to briefly talk about another experience many students encounter for the first time: military training.
From a young age, we are often taught to respect teachers. There is nothing wrong with that. But at the same time, we should also understand something important: teachers are ordinary people as well, and their views cannot always be completely correct.
In some environments, teachers' authority is rarely questioned, while students are mainly expected to obey and execute instructions. To a certain extent, this model may reduce students' space to express different opinions and may not be helpful for developing independent thinking.
Military training reinforces this emphasis on discipline and obedience. Students are required to act according to unified commands—standing in formation, marching, responding to orders, and so on.
These exercises can certainly cultivate discipline. But if there is little room for reflection, people may gradually become accustomed to simply following instructions.
A Broader Question: Employment
Finally, I want to return to a broader topic—employment.
According to data released by China's National Bureau of Statistics, at one point the unemployment rate for urban youth aged 16 to 24 reached 14.9% (excluding students). In other words, roughly one or two out of every ten young people were temporarily unable to find a job.
Of course, employment problems are complex and cannot be attributed solely to the education system. However, if the evaluation system in education relies too heavily on a single metric, students' skill structures may also become narrow.
In the long run, what a person truly needs is not only the ability to perform well on exams, but also reading ability, learning ability, communication ability, and independent thinking.
Final Thoughts
No matter what kind of educational environment we are in, we can still try to do a few additional things: read more books, explore different areas of knowledge, practice independent thinking, and learn another language.
Gradually, you may find a path that belongs to you.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. See you next time.