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Formanyyears,TheFirstClassoftheNewTermhasbeenshownbeforetheopeningofthenewschoolyearontheeveningofSeptember1onChinaCentralTelevision(CCTV).TheMinistryofEducationrequiresthatallprimaryandmiddleschoolsaroundthecountryinformstudentsofthebroadcasttimeandaskstudentstowatchtheprogramwiththeirparents.Asalarge-scalepublicwelfareprogram,whichisdesignedtoprovidepositiveandupliftingcontenttotheyoung,ithasbeenembracedbystudentsandtheirparentsformanyyears.
Thetwistcamewiththisyear鈥檚broadcast.Theadvertisementperiodlastedformorethan10minutesatthebeginningofthebroadcastateighto鈥檆lock,thetimestu-dentswereadvisedtotunein.Inaddition,theadspromotedafterschoolclasses,whichissomethingtheMinistryofEducationistryingtocurb.
Peoplefromallwalksoflifeexpressedtheirviewsonthisyear鈥檚program.
Educationnotads
WeiYingjie(QiangjiangEveningNews):Thisyear鈥檚TheFirstClassoftheNewTermwasladenwithadvertisements.Mostparentsexpressedtheirdissatisfaction.Sinceit鈥檚supposedtobeaprogramforpublicbenefit,andtheMinistryofEducationdemandsprimaryandmiddleschoolstudentsacrossthecountrywatchit,theprogramshouldbefocusingoneducation,ratherthancommercialandbusinessmatters.Bynomeansshouldanadministrativepowerbeinvolvedtoenhanceaudienceratings.Studentsweretoldthattheprogramwouldstartateighto鈥檆lock,butwhatappearedonthescreenatthattimewasnottheprogramitself,butoneadafteranother.
Accordingtotechnicalprocedures,thesecommercialswerescheduledaheadoftimeandmusthavebeenonthelistlongago.Ifyouwatchedcarefully,itwaseasytonoticethatthecamerawasrepeatedlydirectedtosmartwatchesonthewristsofthechildren.Isthisintentionaloraccidental?Worsestill,notonlywereonlinetrainingagencyadsbroadcast,butthefounderofaneducationtrainingagencyatacertainuniversityalsoappearedonscreen.Isthiswhattheprogramreallyneeds?Atsomepoint,wecan鈥檛helpbutsuspectthateventheformalprogramwasjustpartofthemanyadvertisements.
Now,thestudentsandtheirparentsaregivingtheprogramcreatorsalesson,educatingthemonwhatpunctualityandcredibilitymeans.Eveniftheadswerearrangedsothattheprogramcouldbebetterfunded,therearestillsomethingsthatshouldnotbedone.Ifitlosesthetrustofthestudentsandtheirparents,theprogramwillalsograduallyloseitsreasontoexist.
ZhangLimei(www.eastday):Today,TVstationsdependonadvertisementstomakeprofits.ItisverycommontoseequiteanumberoflongcommercialsinsertedbeforeandduringTVseriesorvarietyshows.
However,TheFirstClassoftheNewTerm,aprogramco-createdbyChina鈥檚MinistryofEducationandChinaMediaGroup,isquitedifferentfromothervarietyshowsandeducationalprogramsinthatitisapublicwelfareprogram.Butthisyear,beforetheprogramevenstarted,morethan10minutesofafterschooltutorialadvertisementswerebroadcast.Manyaccuseditofdeviatingfromitsoriginalpurposeofimpactingapositivemessagetothestudentsfortheirowngood.
Thisprogramisdesignednotforentertainmentbutforeducation.Itaimstoeducateprimaryandmiddleschoolstudentsnationwideaboutwhatisimportant.Thisrequiresthattheguestsinvitedtothisprogramandcontentarrangementmeetpublicexpectations.However,whatwesawonthescreenwasmisleadingstudentsintobadhabitsofnotkeepingtimeandbehavingirresponsibly.
Moreover,thereasonwhythisprogramhasaveryhighaudienceratingisthatschools,atthebehestoftheMinistryofEducation,demandparentswatchtheprogramwiththeirchildren,whoarealsorequiredtowritedowntheirimpressionsabouttheprogram.However,whenstudentsandtheirparentsacrossthecountrysatdowninfrontoftheirscreensontheeveningofSeptember1,theformalprogramwasputoffbyprolongedcommercialadtime.Nowondertheparentswereenraged,demandinganexplanationfromCCTV.It鈥檚importanttobringthisprogrambacktoitsoriginalcoursetoeducateandbenefitthepublic,oritmaysoonbedismissedaltogetherbythepublic.
Wrongmessage
ZhuQingjian(baijiahao.baidu):TheFirstClassoftheNewTermhasbeenanimportantprogrampresentedbyCCTVasakindofguideforprimaryandmiddleschoolstudents,whoarerequiredtowritedowntheirthoughtsabouttheprogramafterwatchingit.Thus,asaprogramofferedbyahigh-profileplatformsuchasCCTV,expectationsarehigh.Wedon鈥檛denythemanymeritsofthisyear鈥檚program,suchastheattentiontotheruralareasandeducationthere,thepublicityoftraditionalChinesecultureandtheintroductionofsomescientists,amongotherthings.However,themanyproblemscan鈥檛beoverlooked.
First,theprogramdidnotkeeptime.Studentsaretoldtobepunctualintermsofgoingtoschoolandhandinginhomework.However,theprogramitselfwasnotpunctualatall.
Second,theclasswasnotsomuchanormalclassasanadvertisementclass.Afterthetrailerateighto鈥檆lock,advertisementsbegannon-stop,lastingforabout15min-utes,occupyingtheaudience鈥檚privatetime.
Third,thecontentoftheseadvertisementswasmostlycontradictingMinistryofEducationregulationsandorderstobanextramuralclasses.Dotheseadsmeantopersuadestudentstogototheirtutorialclasses?
It鈥檚hopedthattheseflawswillnolongerbetherenextyear,wedon鈥檛liketobetreatedinsuchanirresponsibleway.
ZhaoQingyuan(TheBeijingNews):Let鈥檚takealookatwhattheadvertisementsconsistedofduringTheFirstClassoftheNewTerm.Therewereadsformattresses,soybeanmilkmachines,liquor,tiles,gelatin,electricmachines,automobiles,cookerhoods,electriccarsandchildren鈥檚toothpaste,amongothers.WhatisevenmoreunacceptableisthatatatimewhentheMinistryofEducationismakingeffortstorelievestudentsofheavyschoolburdensbycuttingoff-campustrainingagencies,tothepublic鈥檚surprise,onlinetutoringadswererepeatedlybroadcastbeforetheprogram.
Theseadswereboundwiththeformalprogramasiftheywereinseparableparts.Idon鈥檛knowhowstudentsfeltafterwatchingthewholeshow.Ifthisprogramwereacommonshow,itwouldbeun-derstandablethattherewouldbesomecommercialsandifyoudidn鈥檛likeit,youcouldjustskipit.
ButthisisaprogramcreatedbytheMinistryofEducationforallprimaryandmiddleschoolstudents,whoalsohavetowritesomethingabouttheprogramafterward.ItisinrealityanationalTVlesson.Puttingadvertisementsbeforetheformalprogramisactuallytransformingeducationalclassesintoacommercialmarketanddoingdamagetochildren鈥檚growth.
Inrecentyears,investorshavebeentryinghardtoextractprofitsfromchildren鈥檚education,whichisseenasabigprizeallthewayfromkindergartentouniversity.Asaresult,moreandmoreschoolsandeducationalinstitutionsgiveintocommercialprofits,andinsomeextremecases,schoolsevenbegintoactlikecommercialorganizationsbyprovidingallkindsoftrainingprograms.It鈥檚apitythattodaywewitnessedthisevenonaformaleducationalprogramofferedbyCCTV.
LISHIGONGCopyeditedbyRebecaToledo