5. Education Standards Are Higher Than in the Past

　　Well, there are a lot of different views on this, but I must say I don’t think there’s very much hard evidence that educational standards are any worse today than in the past. It all depends, of course, on what you measure and how you measure it, but I think it is probably wrong to imagine that there was some golden age in the past when everything was perfect. Of course it may surprise some people that there has not been an obvious and dramatic increase in the standard of education, given the vast amounts of money spent in this area by successive governments in recent years. But unfortunately, most improvements in education are intangible.

　　6. Give Students Time to Grow

　　With examinations drawing near, the burden on middle school students is becoming heavier and heavier. They have more homework than ever before, and less time for leisure, rest and sleep.

　　Because of the over-load, most students’ health suffers and many become nearsighted. An investigation made in a Honghu middle school shows that: compared with 1985, the number of nearsighted students have increased by 25-30 per cent and a larger proportion of students complain of poor health.

　　It is not necessary to keep the students in class all the time. They need to go outside for sports, singing, dancing and other activities. We should create a good environment to let young students grow healthily.