Sometimes they come every day, but
only late afternoons. Some of them arrive in the middle of the
day - but only on Wednesdays. Others, just Saturdays and
some...both. Well, since teachers spend so much time hob nobbing
with the school-age folk, here's a little background information
on what their schedules look like:
Until just a few years ago the public schools were in session
six
days a week, with Saturday as a half-day. Not so anymore. Now,
school is Monday to Friday only.
Elementary School Grades 1 to 6
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Junior High School 7th - 9th Grades
7:40 - 8:20 the
"Teacher Hour", comprised of daily quizzes in Mandarin, English
& math, and then an outdoor assembly of the full student body
called the Flag Rally ( shun chee dien lee). Children sing
patriotic and other songs, the principal or the lead teacher
speaks and some students may make announcements as well.
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8:30 - 9:15 First Class
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12:00 - 12:45 Lunch
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12:45 - 1:15 Lunch "Break" -- and you thought only the kindy kids took naps ;)
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1:25 - 2:10 First Afternoon Class
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4:00pm Go HOME! Ha, ha... 7 more hours of grueling bushiban grind...
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5:00pm Go HOME! Ha, ha... some schools let out this late
Now, surely your little charges
are passing these Junior High School years idling away in
idyllic discovery. Or...maybe not. Barreling toward them at full
speed when they get into 9th grade is the Junior High School
Students' Scholastic Aptitude Test ( Gwo Min Jong Shway Shway
Sun Gee Ben Shway Lee Tsu Yen ). And you were worried about
getting into a good university...how about getting into the
right high school! That's what our youthful wards
are fretting over as they close in on 13. But, the JrHSAT
actually marks an advance in terms of the pressures student have
felt to achieve.
Before, there was a single test, the
cumulative score of which would decide if students would enter
their community's elite high school. This led to enormous
pressure on students. Some adults we talked to who had been
through the old system said they were aware of the importance of
the test as early as the first grade. Critics
claimed it's looming presence encouraged learning by rote and
diminished creativity. The criticism culminated in a general
education reform movement known as Jow Guy that has evolved over
the last two decades.
The big 9th grade test still exists, but, the new JrHSAT has
opened the process up. Now, instead of the best overall students
being at the best overall schools and the other students taking
positions in lesser schools, the scores of the JrHSAT tests are
analyzed as revealing subject level strengths. It's hoped
that by looking at the test scores to reveal strengths, students
who show natural inclination toward specific subject fields will
be rewarded for their natural abilities and interests.
Schools similarly have reorganized
out of a strict hierarchy. They have been given the right to
specialize in subject areas, such as math or social science,
and, in the mix of subject matter undertaken, more schools have
been given the chance to become leading schools in their field,
while students have been enabled to choose among more good
schools that focus on the subject areas they did best at.
Nonetheless, even the strongest reforms won't change some basic
dynamics where parents and a benchmark test are concerned. It's
not "Study what you like, just be happy!" yet. The test is still
prepared for assiduously, and for a little kid it's no picnic .
It's conducted over a day and a half in the springtime of 9th
grade. Immediately afterward, parents and students start
applying to their desired schools. A second shot at the test is
offered about one month later for those seeking a chance to get
higher scores.
It's also important to know that one's 9th grade year and the
scores they get on the JrHSAT will mark another turning point in
the lives of our classroom kids. It is at this time that it is
determined if a student's senior high school years will be on
one or the other of the two tracks that students go on to in
their educational career: the academic track or the vocational
track. When you start 10th grade, you will be in a school geared
specifically for one or the other.
Senior High School 10th - 12th Grades
7:30 - 7:40 students have to arrive no later than
7:40 am. This is monitored by each school's Jao Gwan. The
friendly Jao Gwan is in charge of discipline and punctuality and
is an actual military officer. His campus role was
instituted during the tenure of Chaing Kai Shek, and in recent
years parents and students have agitated to civilianize this
duty, as the schoolyard presence of a soldier strikes some to be
a reminder of martial law. Showing up late earns students a
Saturday morning of coming to school and being assigned various
cleaning and maintenance duties, bathrooms not excluded.
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7:40 - 8:20 daily quizzes, usually in Mandarin, English & math, followed by the Flag Rally
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8:20 - 9:10 First Class
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12:00- 1:20 Lunch Time
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1:20 - 2:10 First Afternoon Class
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4:00 Go HOME! -- Ha, ha...no English bushibans for these guys anymore, it's all focused on grades and competition, trying to get into university or technical school
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5:00 Go HOME! -- Ha, ha...some schoools