It was an unlikely statement from a most unlikely blog but when Beijing Institute of Technology Professor Yang Dongping wrote "Down with the Math Olympiad classes!" He was speaking up for millions of children in China.

Professor Yang is the most vocal critic of the dreaded, private extracurricular math, training seemingly undertaken by every pupil in the land.

The lessons erode the joy of childhood, argues the professor and should only be taken by those elementary students with a head for numbers.

"These private Math Olympiad classes are everywhere. Rather than target math-talented pupils, the business people who run these private classes are after profit and are exploiting the naivety and good nature of parents who think extra math classes will increase their child's intellect and improve their grades," claimed Professor Yang.

China's nine-year compulsory education covers primary and secondary school and the pressure to do well in every class is immense as parents try and help secure them one of the rare university spots available.

Increased competition for a spot in a good elementary school is also increasing as parents take advantage of more relaxed rules to seek out so-called "best performing" model schools.

But pupils must have top grades in math in other key subjects to get a spot, so many parents are paying huge fees to private math teachers for after school lessons to improve their child's chances.

Now many are complaining that the extra classes are like force-feeding children and making them robots, and at the same time starving them of the crucial time needed for social interaction and character-building that can foster creative thinking.

Parents are also paying for extra science and English classes. Usually, the parents sign up their children for these classes without discussion, often leaving the young students sick with exhaustion.

Luo Yuanqiang, a sixth-grader, attends Math Olympiad classes four times a week after school, including two classes for math and two for English.

His father is now concerned he has over burdened his son.

"But we have no other choice. My son has to perform well and prove his talent to get a chance to be admitted into a good model school. We are an ordinary family and don't have the money for a sponsorship fee," said the father, Luo Jianguo.

Model schools charge anywhere between 20,000-50,000 yuan (US$ 3,000-7,300) for a so-called "sponsorship" to take on a child not living in their catchment area or not making the grades.

For 12-year-old Zhang Qi, the Math Olympiad classes are the darkest moment of his young life.

"I hate the classes so much and learn nothing from them," he says.

The hours of after school training plus the 2,000 yuan (US$ 300) monthly fee turn out to be a total a waste of time and money in his eyes.

Many state school teachers agree.

"Only 3-4% pupils are potential math talents. Most pupils are not fit for Math Olympiad classes. The classes are money-making machines. They do good business, but they hurt the pupils and our nation's education system," said Zhou Jiguang, a Shanghai-based senior math teacher.

In recent years, the Ministry of Education has been trying to lighten the academic burden placed on pupils, but have had limited success.

Some local educational authorities have banned Math Olympiad classes, but private after school-training centers are disguising themselves by using other names.

And eager parents are still willing to splash out money and put their children through anguish in the false belief they are doing them good.

"We must promote education not just from an academic perspective, but as a place of cultivation, where character and creativity fostered in our children," said Professor Yang.

Source: Global Times