The math frenzy among Chinese people is hard to quench. After all, despite the government’s efforts to put an end to the math obsession seen among high school students, training classes for the Mathematical Olympiad remain popular among the Chinese.
The people's enthusiasm when it comes to math is most evident in the recently concluded 56th International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), where the U.S. team emerged triumphant after beating the Chinese team.
Fans blame the government's new national education reforms, which ban the awarding of bonus points for academic Olympiad winners on their college entrance examinations or gaokao.
Despite this, MO training centers remain popular in the country, as top high schools still consider math competition results in their admissions process.
"Good performance in math competitions and English proficiency tests were the only stepping stones for my daughter to study in Haidian District, which has so many excellent schools," said Li, a father who started sending his daughter to English and MO training centers a few years ago.
"I sent her to training centers because some parents said some training centers could recommend outstanding students to top high schools." Most of the top-tier high schools in the city are located in the Haidian, Xicheng, and Dongcheng Districts. Li and his family, however, live in Daxing District, where there are a limited number of good schools.
Several training centers in Beijing may have reduced high school-level MO classes, but they have also opened more primary-level classes. Guangzhou, Shanghai and Chengdu have also witnessed a spike in the MO training market for primary school students.
MO training centers, however popular among the Chinese people, are not recommended to majority of students in the country. Education experts estimate that only 5 percent of the student population is suitable to participate in such programs as it requires passion and talent. A student must also cultivate his or her own interests.
"It's not normal when 90 percent of students choose MO without caring about their own interests, and the education reforms which removed the bonus points to counter the 'MO is for everyone' attitude is logical and appropriate," said Xiong Bingqi, the deputy director of the 21st Century Education Research Institute.