Beijing to remove English classes from early grades at elementary schools

All Beijing public elementary schools will stop teaching English language courses to students in grades one and two in a bid to reduce the study workload for children, local media reported on Wednesday.

Currently most students in Beijing begin studying English from grade one and often have two English classes every week. However starting next year, newly-enrolled pupils will not study English until the third grade, several Beijing newspapers cited deputy director Fu Zhifeng of Beijing Municipal Commission of Education as saying in a forum.

The latest education reform also promised to reduce difficulties in high school and college entrance examinations. According to Fu, this latest decision was in line with the extensive reform packages Chinese Communist Party introduced after its third plenum last week.

Phone operators at the Beijing Municipal Commission of Education responding to inquiries on education policy on Wednesday morning said they had not been given instructions about the reform yet.

Staff at several Beijing elementary schools also said on Wednesday they had not received any directives from the Commission.

The Beijing education commission last month revealed a proposal seeking to reduce the number of points allocated to the English language examination of the college-entrance exam. Feedback showed overwhelming public support for the proposal, the Commission told media.