Report on Student Life in China

Based on my observation over the three weeks living in Beijing Vocational College of Agriculture International Education College, I was able to make new friends that also staying in the Beijing Vocational College of Agriculture International Education College’s Student Dormitory. They help me to understand the what is it like to be studying in this school and staying in the fourth circle in Bei Jing even more. This has helped me to understand and experience how is it like to be in the shoes of the students studying in China. The timetable for students in the school ranges from 7am all the way to 9pm. This really shows how much China enforces its education system on students have to be able to go classes from morning till night daily and that would be very strenuous for a growing child. I walk past the classes and take a peep into it, the atmosphere is tense n quiet as if there’s an examination going on inside, everyone is really attentive and listening in the lectures. This really emphasizes on my point about the competition in China. It proves my point on how China students are really hardworking and actually listens in class.

Comparing the students from Singapore to China, it’s really hard to see a class full of 30 students all paying close attention to the class, taking down notes of what the teacher teaches in class and really studying hard for the final year examination. What’s normal to see in Singapore is students playing with their mobile phones, playing computer games, and maybe even sleeping during lecture. This shows the difference between us as Singapore Students are really on a different level and cannot be compared with the students in China. My China friend that immigrated to Singapore also tells me the same thing and they even do a lot of extra practice every day after school in order to achieve better grades. This shows that Chinese Students are really willing to work hard and be diligent unlike most of us who are actually easily distracted and prefer to procrastinate which we as Singaporeans student lack of. This had impacted me that Singaporeans students should treat them as a good example in order to be successful academically. And as someone from Singapore side, I really feel very ashamed for actually not being as hard working like how the China Students are, studying really hard and being what a proper model student should be. Hearing from my friend, students rarely have the opportunity to speak in class. The teacher speaks, and the students would only listen and take notes. From this, I can actually conclude that students in China has to do a lot of self-study and listens a lot in class. This means that they have to be very vigilant and have the self-disciplined to study even after class. Furthermore, the students prioritize studies over their health. They will even push themselves to go to school every day, regardless of their well-being. Not only that, there is also stress build up by their parent’s expectation. Students attempt to get the expected or better grade for their parents in order to escape punishments from them at home which make Chinese students work extremely hard on their studies.

Another special thing I observed in the trip, is the whiteboard in the classroom. At first, when I enter the classroom, the classroom looks very neat and tidy. The Chinese teacher came into the classroom with just an old laptop. Curiosity hits me because the classroom does not have a projector unlike the classroom I study in polytechnic. The teacher plugged a cable into the laptop and the whiteboard itself projects out the screen on the laptop. Everyone is amazed by it. But what amazed us even more, is how the Chinese teacher operated the laptop. She opens her slideshow on the laptop by using her hands to touch the surface of the whiteboard. This shows that China school have invested a lot on supporting the students to study in a better environment.