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孩子们应该多玩

Early last month, when well-known Russian mathematician Andrei Okunkov visited Nanjing, a local journalist showed him a question from a local "Olympic math" course. The winner of the prestigious Fields Medal thought for quite a few minutes before giving up. "Sorry, I feel a little bit muddled," he said.

In the past, there have been reports of university professors and doctors failing to solve such questions. These cases prove beyond doubt the absurdity of such courses for children. Parents know it, but they still want their kids to undergo such courses. "They have to", they say. "When other children attend such courses, my child cannot be left out."

That is the mentality of most parents. After the authorities banned schools from giving homework to children, schools started all kinds of extra-curricular courses. Some non-school organizations and teachers also began running such classes privately. They urged the parents: "Don't let your kid lose the race at the starting line."

Though there is no unified examination for primary school students to enter middle school and the government has decreed that they should be admitted to schools near their home, parents want their kids to attend "better quality" schools. These schools will test the applicants with higher-level examinations. And, whether a child can land a seat in a "better quality" school matters greatly for university admission.

Most parents want their kids to study out-of-school courses to be competitive. In such a situation, it is unrealistic to urge parents to stop sending their children to such courses. The only effective way is to ban these courses by law.