Knowledge for Sale?

Knowledge for Sale?

Since results of this year’s national college entrance exam were published in late June, some top-performing students have become popular. As champions, either in the overall exam or in one subject, at the provincial or city level, some sell copies of their class notebooks, showing methods for dealing with the key points or difficult parts of particular classes, at up to 100 yuan ($15) each.

Some students even divide their notebooks into different sections, just like newspapers or magazines, making them easy to read and understand. Besides selling notebooks, top-scoring students can also command relatively high fees to tutor younger students, possibly earning upwards of several thousands of yuan by the end of the summer holiday.

Supporters of the phenomenon believe it puts to good use high-scoring students’ unique study techniques and their accumulated experience in solving thorny problems during high school study. Furthermore, such business activities enable high-performing students to generate funds for their first semester in college and also to gain social experience.

Others, however, worry that one student’s study methods do not necessarily suit others. There are also concerns that, since highachieving students’ stories are dramatized by the media, other students and their parents may blindly follow their examples regardless of whether or not what they offer is truly helpful.

Praiseworthy

Chen Youwei (www.cnhubei.com): Those who perform well in the college entrance examination must have ways of studying efficiently. Since they face the prospect of college, their class notebooks, which helped them achieve high examination scores, may no longer be useful. But, these academic records can become a kind of treasure trove with the potential to help others prepare for important examinations and may even change the course of their lives by saving them from failure.

High-scoring students who willingly share their notebooks and study techniques with others and offer tutoring do not necessarily do so purely for profit. Some probably want to see their fellow schoolmates do well in the college entrance examination. While strengthening their tutoring abilities and helping others, they also receive some income.

At the same time, the extensive amount of attention that they have attracted shows that the knowledge these students have to offer is popular among younger learners. In the long run, the sharing of exemplary class notes also prevents useful academic resources from going to waste, as the content usually encapsulates the essence of excellent students’ high school study. For this reason, it’s better to enjoy the benefits they provide, instead of frowning upon them.

Xiong Bingqi (China Science Daily): How can students make good use of the period between leaving school and entering college? Tutoring others is widely considered better than idling away the time and is a popular way for college students to make money to cover their daily expenses. High school students particularly value the guidance of those who have achieved high scores in their college entrance examination. To label this phenomenon the “star-student economy” actually makes an unnecessary fuss out of the situation.

The gap of nearly three months between high school and college can be the most relaxing period students get to enjoy since first starting school. But, for students, who don’t know what to do, it can also be unproductive, just spent sleeping, watching TV and seeing friends. Actually, this respite from study is a precious time that high school graduates can take advantage of to do things they were unable to do previously due to a lack of time. Besides, they can take on work, such as tutoring, to make money for their college fees and living expenses. Whether their families are rich or poor, since they are already adults, they should gain a sense of gradually becoming financially independent.

It’s important for the media to report stories about top-performing students and the associated economic phenomenon properly and objectively. They should refrain from hyping the so-called “star-student economy” and turn their attention to the various meaningful ways students spend their pre-college summer vacation. Besides tutoring, some young people use the time to undertake voluntary social or charity work or to travel abroad. All such activities deserve praise, even if the participants do not have high college entrance exam scores.

Xiong Meifang (www.cnhubei.com): Every year, after the annual college entrance examination results are released, top scorers tend to come under the spotlight of the whole nation. Companies take advantage of these exam champions to improve their brand image, for example, through product endorsements. But, the exploitation of top scorers for financial gain has come under fire in recent years.

The “star-student economy” is completely different because class notebooks and tutoring focus on knowledge. The over-commercialization of exam champions, however, is based on the perception of excellence surrounding these talented young people, which is used to attract as much attention as possible.

The rise of the “star-student economy”reveals people’s respect for knowledge and the pursuit of academic achievement. Students who performed well in high school can offer their junior schoolmates the benefit of their experience. To some degree, the practice has changed the stereotype that high-achieving students are mostly nerds who know how to study well but know almost nothing about interacting with others.

During the three months between high school and college, many high school graduates choose to travel, work or stay at home. Industrious students, meanwhile, have found an alternative way to spend the summer: selling their class notebooks online or acting as tutors to make some money for their coming college days. In the process of trying to achieve a measure of economic independence, they also learn how to operate online stores, present themselves, and communicate with others. Tutoring is also a way of solidifying their existing knowledge. The“star-student economy,” therefore, is worth encouraging to a moderate extent.

Think twice

Yang Yulong (Guangzhou Daily): Straight-A students are respectable in that they possess a unique way of studying efficiently. By selling their notebooks, they transform knowledge into profit, in similar fashion to how people benefit from selling their own patents. The increasing market demand for such notebooks fully reflects the value of top students’ knowledge and learning techniques.

This phenomenon, however, also presents some issues. While excellent students undoubtedly have strong learning abilities, their methods may not necessarily suit everyone. Furthermore, by charging for tutoring, they turn it into a business. Whether top students find tutoring work through agencies, independently online, or by word of mouth, their activities should be brought under supervision. Effective regulation can ensure good-quality tutoring and safeguard the interests of both tutors and their trainees.

People must be on the lookout for incompetent tutors, who try to take advantage of the booming tutoring business. When choosing a tutor, students and their parents must check whether or not the person is really good at tutoring, so as not to be tricked.

As far as younger students are concerned, while they may find learning from and even copying college entrance exam success stories helpful in many aspects, they ought to keep in mind that their own endeavors and accumulation of knowledge and learning techniques are what can sustain them and enable them to prevail in the end.

Li Wanyou (www.wenming.cn): Undeniably, high-achieving students have good learning methods that may help fellow schoolmates prepare for the college entrance examination. These methods, however, are not guaranteed to help younger learners. Moreover, in the pursuit of profit, some may mislead younger students by exaggerating the value of their knowledge.

Star students hold a strong allure for many parents, who like to hold them up as role models for their children. Sometimes, parents purchase class notebooks not because their children actually need the content, but just because other students have such resources. Blindly trusting star students’ class notebooks may disrupt their children’s learning patterns. Top scorers’ experience is precious, but they should never be relied upon too heavily.

Copyedited by Chris Surtees