Chinese primary school students are expecting a new semester without any homework, as the Ministry of Education (MOE) has asked that all homework must be completed at school, and students are to go home without any homework.

The MOE issued a regulation last month on reducing students' homework, and asked educational departments at all levels to help students spend their school days free of homework.

Some educators hold that this new MOE regulation will not only release students from homework, but will also bring a breath of fresh air for cultivating their creativity.

Li Lianning, department chief for basic education at the MOE, said that the lack of an environment to nurture students' creativity is the major gap between basic education in China and that in other countries.

Sun Yunxiao, the deputy director of the China Youth and Children's Research Center, pointed out that compared with the teaching materials used by middle and primary schools in the United States, those used in Chinese middle and primary schools are much more difficult.

The level of knowledge about physics for a grade one junior middle school student in China is equal to that of a grade three junior middle school student in the United States.

However, experts doubt that the mere accumulation of text-based knowledge can really improve China's basic education level.

Yang Deren, a chemistry professor at Shanghai Normal University, pointed out that most teaching materials in China's middle and primary schools are designed to cultivate scholars.

The MOE published "The 2000 Middle and Primary School Teaching Material Catalog" last month, which reduced the amount of teaching materials.

This no-homework effort will help primary and middle school students to lighten their bags, which are notorious for their being weighed down with all kinds of school paraphernalia, said the official, adding that the publication of the catalog will help push forward quality-oriented education.

Li Lianning believes that the catalog will help schools reduce their teaching requirements, downsize examinations, and increase teaching activities that strengthen students' creativity.