From preschool pupils buckling under mountains of homework and grandparents dismayed by a dearth of creativity, to scholars lamenting epidemics of corruption and plagiarism, most mainlanders complain about the education system.
So when unpopular education minister Zhou Ji was removed from his post in October, many saw it as a chance for his successor to introduce much-needed reform in a blueprint for education development for the next 10 years that is due to be released soon.
Echoing growing public dissatisfaction, Premier Wen Jiabao criticised the education system during a visit to a Beijing middle school in September, saying it had failed to meet the demands of social and economic development. Recalling his meetings with space scientist Qian Xuesen, who died last year, Wen said Qian asked him the same question on several occasions: 'Why have our schools failed to produce top talent for so long?'
Eleven university professors from Anhui have released an open letter to the new education minister, Yuan Guiren, urging the ministry and educators to face up to Qian's challenge.
While Zhou had hailed the country's achievements in making nine years of compulsory education accessible to all and widening access to higher education, the government has failed to meet a target set 10 years ago - and enshrined in an amended Education Law in 2005 - to spend the equivalent of 4 per cent of the country's gross domestic product on education each year. In 2008, education spending was 3.48 per cent of GDP.
The deputy director of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, Xiong Bingqi , said increased public spending in the past three years - which saw tuition fees waived for rural primary and junior-high-school students, and financial assistance for university students from disadvantaged families - had gone some way to addressing the plight of parents, although government spending on education was still far from enough.