SKIPPING CLASSES

Many viewers thought it was a joke when a Ms. Liu in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, told the local TV station that she paid 1,288 RMB to enroll her son in a rope-skipping course.

However, elementary school students have been signing up to be trained in this childhood exercise since 2014, when the Ministry of Education included jump-rope into student physical fitness examinations, supposedly to promote “quality education” that emphasizes students’ overall development instead of academics alone. Rope-skipping results account for 20 percent of students’ PE grade in the first to fourth grade, and extra credit is available for skips over the maximum of 117 skips in one minute.

In spite of outrage over the exorbitant fees, many parents are positive about the development. “Instead of playing with their mobile phones, kids can get some exercise, and earn higher marks,” China News paraphrased some parents as saying.