What is the solution to relieving primary and middle school students of their heavy schoolwork burden? Making them study not just for higher exam scores but also building their problem-solving abilities are the keys.

But a plan revealed by the Ministry of Education over the weekend that more than 10,000 headmasters of primary and middle schools will be sent to developed countries in three years to receive training seems to miss the point.

A senior ministry official said the headmasters would be trained on how to make students enjoy their studies on campus. But that seems like it's been the fault of the headmasters that has created the heavy schoolwork burden on students, not the problematic education system.

A heavy load of schoolwork results from an overemphasis on exam scores in high school and university enrollment. As a result, schools attach a great deal of weight in preparing students for exams. The higher the marks for students, the more admittances in prestigious universities, and the more benefits for schools.

What schoolmasters cannot ignore is that good scores come from more practice and heavier schoolwork load. Sending them to developed countries will hardly cause them to detract their attention from the rate of graduates entering prestigious universities without fundamentally reforming the enrollment system.

It is also apparently a waste of money to do so, especially when the education budget is tight and we need more money to improve school conditions in rural areas and help those who cannot afford a compulsory nine-year education.

The Ministry of Education needs to think twice about spending a huge portion of money in sending school headmasters overseas. If we do find such trips necessary, why can't we send experts to learn how education is run in developed countries and let them tell school headmasters what to do?

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