Day two

Did you know that Chinese youth go to school six days a week and even at the youngest grade levels, spend copious amounts of time completing homework? This info was among the lessons learned Sunday (Chinese time) by the delegation of Tech Valley region educators who are in China to partner with educators in the country.

Chinese youth in the primary schools spend at least three hours a day completing homework assignments and that amount of time grows as the students go through the grades. This combined with the government requirements that family only have one child has left some youth isolated, Simona, a Chinese representative guiding the delegation said.

At the same time, the delegation learned that families with means in China will spend up to $25,000 Yuan – between $6,000 and $7,000 American – to simply enter their child into a preschool. Tuition is added to that.

News and notes

The delegation visited the Great Wall of China with some members climbing to the highest section of the wall of the Badaling area of the 6,000-kilometer-long world wonder.

The wall is amazing when taken into context that some sections were constructed 220BC and the most recent sections were created in the 15^th and 16^thcenturies. The wall is quite steep and ADA compliance is not even an afterthought – some steps in the wall are only a quarter-inch high and other steps are three-feet high. Some sections lack steps altogether and instead are traversed by walking at a 45-degree grade. It is all quite amazing and different.