Basic Education of Life Science Sharply Downgraded in China: ExpertsCurrently, the basic education of life science has been sharply downgraded in China and it is urgent and necessary for the whole society to pay attention to life science education, said Zhou Zengquan, president of the College of Life Science of Peking University, at a meeting on June 23.According to Zhou, the withdrawal of biology from college entrance examination in China since 1996 has obviously reduced students' interest in this course. He also cited an example that Chinese students had always won gold-medals and ranked the world first in International Olympic Biological Contests before 1998, however it has been on the decline the last three years, and last year even to the world third after the ROK and China's Taipei. He also made a comparison on basic education of biology between China's mainland and China's Taiwan Province. He said by analogy that biology is a two-year course in high middles in Taiwan while only one-year in China, and schools in Taiwan are more advanced than those in China's mainland on many other aspects as hardware facilities, test environment, teacher quality and investment on biological education. The basic education of life science can directly produce an effect on social recognition to this course. In recent years, Chinese colleges and universities have begun to consider more of the life science and undergraduates have got strong interest in this course, and so the society should keep on paying attention and giving support to the basic education of life science. By PD Online Staff Huang Ying |
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