Paula Escalada Medrano

Shanghai, Feb 19 (EFE).- Mountains of homework and extracurricular activities with little time to play is the reality for millions of children in China, which is just starting to take small steps to reduce the school stress within its strict education regime.

Last week, the Shanghai Education Commission announced a campaign to reduce pressure on children to achieve good academic results from an early age.

Among other things, the teachers will not be allowed to assign extracurricular activities to students nor conduct classification tests during the first few weeks of the semester, which began a few days ago.

In response, three groups that organize mathematics competitions announced that there will be no contests this year, in order to reduce the burden on students.

Many parents view these competitions as a way of giving their children an advantage when it comes to applying to high schools, and push them into intensive extracurricular classes.

"Most of my children have extracurricular activities for music, dance, languages... it is too much pressure for such a young age, since the parents expect their children to be perfect," 33-year-old Tania Saleem, who has been teaching in Beijing for 10 years, tells EFE.

Children have to cope with this pressure from a very young age as education is seen as a step-by-step process, first to gain admission in the best high school and then the best university.

"It is very stressful for the children; it is not healthy," Saleem adds.

To help their offspring achieve good results and gain acceptance into the best universities, parents invest enormous amounts of money in tutors and private schools, while the children themselves invest significant amounts of time and effort.

However, in the opinion of 30-year-old Scholastica Tanyi, who originally hails from North Carolina in the United States, the situation is gradually changing.

"Some of the younger parents are more relaxed and understand that their children need another type of recreation," she explains.

The end of the one-child policy will also help reduce the pressure as, for decades, parents have only had one child on whom to focus all their efforts. EFE