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Students embrace market economy
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Li Dan
WHILE most kids are in classrooms under the close supervision of their teachers and monitors, students of Junior One Class Five in Pingshan Middle School carry out their daily class management to explore the market economy.
The class monitor, with a responsibility similar to the manager of a company, is publicly elected according to his or her ability and personality rather than academic performance. Once elected, the monitor organizes the management committee of the class.
After that, tasks are assigned to students through procedures of open bidding, the winner chosen according to his or her merits. A certain sum of money is also given out with the tasks, including purchasing the necessary tools for the job, which mainly involve sprucing up the class environment or buying books for the class reading corner.
A special class fund is established to award those who study hard and are polite. At the same time, students who often violate the class rules and do not study hard enough are fined. At the end of each semester, the management accounts will be publicized to the whole class for supervision.
Zhang Guozhen, the teacher in charge of the class, first came up with the idea. The school's administration immediately gave the go-ahead, and the project got underway. Parents were also invited to extend support and suggestions, some volunteering on the spot to donate over 1,000 yuan to the class accounts.
"This is a new attempt in our daily management," the principal of the school told Shenzhen Daily. "For the time being we won't promote this practice in the whole school but we will continue the tryout in one class."
"Money is not the key here," Zhang says. "It is a means to help the students realize their responsibilities and take up their duties." The class has been praised for its quick progress in discipline and students' behaviour since the experiment began.
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