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Extracurricular courses have occupied the bulk of Chinese student's summer vacation. The two-month holiday, which is supposed to be the happiest time of year for children, has now become a burden for students and toddlers alike.

A woman surnamed Xue said that her 2-year-old daughter can now recite over 30 pieces of Tang poetry and recognize nearly 300 Chinese characters. "I'm planning to sign her up an English course in the second half of the year," she added.

"Children are all studying very hard nowadays, especially in megacities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou," Xue noted, explaining that she just wants her daughter to be more competitive in this very environment and forcing her to study at such a young age is not what she really wants.

Sixty percent of the randomly interviewed parents said they would interfere with their children's plans for summer vacation, and extracurricular courses have become the choice for over 70% of them.

However, data shows these courses are not likely to meet parents' high expectations.

Mei Limin, an education expert in central China's city of Wuhan noted that children are forced to learn but studying should be unprompted. She suggested that parents have a long-term perspective and improve the quality of their children's summer vacation.