A WELCOME DECREE

    New Roman" size=4>Great news it is to know that we are going to work five days a week and we don't have to give lessons at night. There is a decree seriously issued by the government. Seems that is not kidding matter this time. Both the teachers and students exclaimed on hearling the news. What we are afraid of is that it may become another policy which is not supposed to be implemented, only lip service.

     I am not lazy at work. I am, on the contrary, very hardworking indeed. That is why I have been suffering from heartattack. I have taken all the matters relevant to work too seriously. Now from years of working experience I know that I just can't finish all the work how I may exert myself. I am a teacher, so I have to keep the students safe, discipline the students, improving their learning, and I have to meet the demands of the leaders to finish a lot of useless toil all the time. After every exam, we teachers will be graded according to how our students have performed in it, or to say more exactly, what marks they have got. So many numbers, the rate of excellce, average students and how many students have passed the exam will be the standards by which we are judged by. Unlike those educationalists in the past, we are now imparting book knowledge, regarding it as the first and foremost task of ours. What is the worse, we have to toil for more than twelve hours per day. We just have no time to take care of our kids. More often than not, I leave my kid wandering on the school campus while I am taking care of the students. Even in so doing I will be put to blame for bringing kids to school. But at home there no one to look after him--my wife is a teacher too.

    Whoever has concience may have an investigation into the working conditions of the teachers. Just look at the tight schedule you will instantly know what is happening to them. There is a school in the nearby county. All the teachers are severely required to sit in office from 5 in the morning to 10 at night, with only 30 minutes in the morning, one hour at noon, one hour in the afternoon to have three meals. They will have to work 7 days a week. How will they be supposed to go home to see their parents.

    You may protest in a way against the inhuman treatment some may say. There is a very simple way to deal with such kind of staff---anyone who violates the "rule"(it is really a rule indeed.) will be dimissed without any compensation. Perhaps in Hainan Province a teacher who refused to give lessons during vacations was fired, with the support of the local government. We are slaves in a way. We have been trained to be teachers, how can we supposed to make a living without the job?

    If someone may ask all the teachers in China whether they like their job or not, I think most of the teachers will give the firm and definite answer that they don't.

    The students are in worse situations. Since no teachers can affort to be graded very low by the students' marks, they assign unduely a lot of homework to do. Some of the assignments are really nonsense, since a lot of them ask the students only to read, recite. Thanks to the way of teaching, I know a lot of English words ahhahah. The students' health conditions are the worst in history. Will they be qualified constructors in the long run? I am too much perplexed, bewildered.

    The decree requires the students only to attend class only five days a week, without classes at night. They can only go to school five days a week. They will have a lot of spare time.

    I am in doubt just whether it will be earnest implemented and when it will be put into effect.