(Minghui.org) The exam-centered education in China has put enormous pressure on schools, teachers, parents and students alike. Children feel depressed, parents feel helpless and teachers have to work very hard to keep up with the demanding and ever changing requirements. This is the case in senior high schools, junior high, or primary schools.
Because my wife and I were both illegally arrested by the communist regime for practicing Falun Dafa, my daughter didn't have a normal family life when she was little. There was even interference in kindergarten. Therefore, she had a disadvantage when she started to attend school, and thus didn't do as well as other pupils. One teacher even commented in a notebook to parents: “I wonder which kindergarten she had attended!”
Dealing With China's Ordinary People's School System
Schoolwork started to be more difficult in grade three, as it was necessary to prepare students for junior high school. Teachers demanded that more and more homework be done. My daughter was kind of slow and she was unable to finish schoolwork until very late every night. As a result, she had hardly any time left to study Master's teachings. We hoped we could study the Fa with our daughter every day.
Master said,
“You all have jobs in this ordinary human society, and you have social activities—all of you have contact with everyday people and ordinary human society. Consequently, what you see and hear, whether you intend it or not, all has to do with everyday people’s things, which will interfere with your cultivation. So it’s beneficial for you to often study the Fa together and use this basin of fresh water to cleanse yourselves.” (Teaching the Fa at the Eastern U.S. Fa Conference)
The indoctrination in China starts as soon as an innocent children starts school. Many texts in their schoolbooks are lies, such as the story about Qiu Shaoyun who was said to remain still when being hit by a firebomb so he would not expose their location to the enemy; or that of Huang Jiguang, who was hailed as a hero for hurling himself against a machine gun during the Korean War. Some texts defamed Falun Dafa, like the “Tiananmen Self-immolation” incident, which was orchestrated by the communist regime.
My daughter did things slowly. If she studied the Fa first she would not be able to finish her homework, which routinely brought her criticism from her teacher. I went to explain to her teacher a number of times, and in the end I wrote a guarantee, saying that we as parents would take full responsibility for our daughter's schoolwork whether she got good or bad marks. With this guarantee, the head teacher stopped forcing my daughter to complete the overwhelming homework.
When it was time for her move up to junior high school, her school arranged a mock exam to see how well the students were doing. The scores were kept secret from the students, who were then placed into different classes, based on their score. My daughter was placed in the class of best-performing students.
Students of this class were given extra work from day one and kept at school until 8:00 p.m. Parents had to send the dinner to school. After they got home in the evening they had to do more homework until very late.
Importance of Daily Fa Study
We were very concerned. We worried that if our daughter had no time for Fa study, she might drift away from the Fa. All her life seemed to be focused on exams at that time. We went to see her head teacher and asked her to allow our daughter not to attend after-school lectures.
Even though compulsory after-school lessons are forbidden by the education bureau, every school imposes it on the students to increase the name recognition of the school. The head teacher said if my daughter stopped attending the after-school lessons, she would have to go to another class, which we didn't want her to do. In the end we wrote another guarantee, stating that we would be fully responsible if our daughter failed to move up to senior high school.
In order to keep up with the teaching schedule, many new lessons were taught in the after-school class. So, my daughter had to rely on self-study or ask her fellow classmates for the missing lessons. Even though her marks were not as good, she was a lot happier than her classmates, as she was no longer exposed to the high pressure.
Prior to the mid-term exams, every student was strongly advised that they must undertake some psychological counseling, except my daughter, because everyone could see that she displayed a very healthy state of mind.
Sixteen students of her school were admitted into the No.1 Middle School, the best in the local area. Although my daughter was not one of them, she made it to the school she intended to attend – another reputable school in our area. Her head teacher said to us with regret: Your daughter is good enough to attend the No. 1 School, but you didn't pay enough attention to her schoolwork.”
I held no regret. In my daughter's class, she was the only one who did not need to wear glasses and the only one with a straight back and a healthy mental state.
Life in senior high school was even more intense. We let our daughter be a non-resident student so that she could study the Fa with us every day.
My daughter had become more mature and had her own aspirations. She decided to attend the best university for her chosen subject.
I kept encouraging her without holding much expectation, as I was aware of the very high admission bar. Many students repeated the entrance exams many times and still failed. However, my daughter was full of confidence and she studied very hard. She lost some weight but no matter how busy she was she never stopped Fa study.
The Fa study helped her both mentally and physically. She even won the first place in the 3000-meter run in the sports meet of her school. She told me that while she was running she kept reciting “Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,” and the longer she ran the more relaxed she became, and was even able to sprint during the last few hundred meters.
With the Fa in her heart my daughter maintained a very healthy and positive state of mind. She always considered others first and got on very well with everyone around her. She never spent money recklessly and we never needed to worry about her.
The Power of Dafa: Absorbing Subjects Needed for Admittance Into Chosen University
The excessive assignments tactic is common place in China for preparation for higher education entrance exams. Even though my daughter had never done much homework, nor attended after school lessons, her teacher said she had a very good enlightenment quality and was able to absorb what was taught very easy. Although she did not do as many exercises she was able to achieve very good learning efficiency with less effort. When the results of higher education entrance exams came out, my daughter was pleased to learn that she had been admitted into her chosen university as she wished.
In fact, my daughter is not as clever as many other youngsters of her age group, the difference is that my daughter has the Fa in her heart and she follows the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
Unlike most young girls, she did not go through any rebellious phase and has always gotten along very well with us. She enjoyed her college studies and achieved her goals.
As parents we have also benefited a lot, because we never needed to worry if our daughter would go astray and absorb societies ills. It is such a pleasure to watch her grow up with the guidance of the Fa, and turn into a successful and happy young lady.
Master said,
“Three words of TruthLucid the principles, clear the wordsGenerously blessed is the common manwho learns even its most basic meaningClear in vision, like a mirror, is the official”(“Dafa's Journey,” Hong Yin Vol. II, Translation Version A)
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