Government ban on Math Olympiad: There are pluses and minusesAthena Lingyun Song
Print Edition
Recently, the Chinese government issued a statement cracking down on the practice of organizing math Olympiad-style academic competitions that tie into mid-high school admission, as well as after-school training classes that prepare students.
Supporters claim that this will help lessen the burden, while some argue that this will prevent the system from selecting the top students and will hurt the chances for many gifted students.
I think well organized and fair academic competitions like the Math Olympiad are a necessary part of an ideal education, where all types of talented students can develop and display their interests. Aspiring authors, mathematicians, artists ... Without these competitions they might not discover their talent or survive the much-too-standardized tests.
Good prep schools can help discover talent. The impact of training varies, and most would agree that the Math Olympiad mostly shows the attributes of the students themselves rather than the tutors. That’s why the top schools tend to view an Olympiad award more important than a 100 score in school quiz. There is no doubt that an over emphasis on extensive training does more harm than good. Extensive preparation before academic competition does not help level the playing field, and is often considered a form of cheating. So, ironically, top schools favor the winners of those academic competition, but dislike the act of extensive training.
I am a big fan of academic competitions but support the ban on excessive training. If we continue to ignore the gray areas in those prep schools, there will be more commercialized academic competitions which will generate more improper practice and injustice.
The key to solving the issues is to develop a more scientific and holistic evaluation. In addition to a standard 100-score system we need other indicators. In addition to a score we need percentiles and distribution curves. We cannot rely solely on the transcripts, until one day it can offer the level of detail top schools can use to select talent.
The education frenzy in China is caused by a classic imbalance of supply and demand. While we cannot get rid of the Math Olympiad, our best approach is to stop attending those training schools and let players compete on the same playing field.
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