Chinese schools to teach traditional medicine

CHINESE children as young as 12 are to be taught the benefits of massage and how to administer acupuncture as traditional medicine is added to the curriculum.

Starting this term, children in the final year of primary school in the wealthy eastern Zhejiang province will be the first in the country have a weekly Chinese medicine class taught by their science teachers, who have been trained by the Zhejiang University of Chinese Medicine over the summer.

The news has divided opinion of parents. Many see traditional medicine as useless and teaching it a waste of precious school time, while others see it as a good way to imbue the children with the essence of Chinese culture. “Let’s also start courses in fortune telling and palm reading” wrote one parent on social media site Sina Weibo.

Education officials said the course would not be part of school exams.