{"id":128146,"date":"2025-11-11T21:10:16","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T21:10:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/128146\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T21:10:16","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T21:10:16","slug":"chinas-average-school-day-is-2-hours-longer-than-the-u-s-with-all-studies-and-no-extracurriculars-the-results-could-help-it-win-the-ai-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/128146\/","title":{"rendered":"China’s average school day is 2 hours longer than the U.S., with all studies and no extracurriculars. The results could help it win the AI race"},"content":{"rendered":"

The U.S. and China\u2019s rivalry isn\u2019t just ramping up in trade<\/a> or technology<\/a>\u2014it\u2019s playing out in the classroom.<\/p>\n

In China, long school days and relentless study habits are the norm. One father, Ray Liu, captured the intensity in a now-viral TikTok video<\/a> showing him picking up his 13-year-old daughter from school late at night.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHi guys, it\u2019s 8:30pm, let\u2019s go pick up Cindy together,\u201d 42-year-old Ray Liu said. \u201cShe went to school this morning at 7 a.m., so she stayed at school for about 14 hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

China\u2019s education system prioritizes extended instruction, discipline, and constant testing. It\u2019s common for students to spend more than 10 hours a day in class\u2014followed by homework, tutoring, and preparation for the high-stakes college entrance exam.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has always been this way,\u201d Ray told The Daily Mail<\/a>. \u201cWhen I was in middle school, I also spent 14 hours a day or even more at school.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, as a parent, he admitted the pressure can be overwhelming. \u201cIt affects their physical and mental health,\u201d he said, noting that families often accept the stress as the cost of upward mobility.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery student must take the college entrance exam to get into university, and most Chinese parents believe that getting into a good university is the only way to secure a good job and live a happy life,\u201d Ray added.<\/p>\n

By contrast, American students typically start their days between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. and finish by mid-afternoon. After-school activities exist\u2014but they\u2019re optional. Homework expectations are lighter, and the cultural emphasis is more on balance and exploration than on exam performance.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s 15-year-olds significantly outperform those in the United States in mathematics on the most recent international comparisons, with a gap of roughly 85\u201390 points on PISA 2022 (China ~552 vs. U.S. ~465), placing China among the global leaders and the U.S. below the OECD average<\/a> in math performance.<\/p>\n

China could win the AI race\u2014starting in the classroom<\/p>\n

The educational rivalry between the U.S. and China may ultimately determine who leads the world into an AI-driven future.<\/p>\n

This fall, primary and secondary schools across Beijing began offering at least <\/a>8 hours of AI classes each academic year\u2014enabling students as young as 6-year-olds to learn the foundations of technology, how to use chatbots, and the ethics of AI.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The U.S., by contrast, lacks a unified national plan for AI education. In April, Trump signed an executive order calling for improved training in AI literacy and the integration of the technology into classrooms\u2014but many industry leaders say it\u2019s not nearly enough.<\/p>\n

More than 250 executives, including Microsoft\u2019s Satya Nadella, Airbnb\u2019s Brian Chesky, and Uber\u2019s Dara Khosrowshahi, signed an open letter in May urging U.S. lawmakers to make computer science and AI education mandatory<\/a> for every U.S. student.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the age of AI, we must prepare our children for the future\u2014to be AI creators, not just consumers,\u201d the letter read. \u201cA basic foundation in computer science and AI is crucial for helping every student thrive in a technology-driven world. Without it, they risk falling behind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even those at the center of the AI boom are sounding alarms. Nvidia<\/a> CEO Jensen Huang warned in an interview with the Financial Times<\/a> that China \u201cwill win\u201d the AI race if the U.S. fails to invest more aggressively in education and innovation. While Nvidia later clarified his comments<\/a> with a softer statement<\/a>, the message was clear: the competition isn\u2019t just about chips or data centers\u2014it\u2019s about who trains the next generation to build what comes next.<\/p>\n

Trump shifts tone on Chinese students<\/p>\n

In May, the Trump administration threatened to \u201caggressively revoke\u201d Chinese student visas<\/a>, a move that many higher education leaders warned could cripple American universities reliant on international tuition revenue. But weeks later, the administration quietly backed down.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And in an interview just yesterday, Trump struck a different tone\u2014acknowledging that it\u2019s beneficial for U.S. universities to remain open to foreign students, especially from China.<\/p>\n

\u201cI actually think it\u2019s good to have outside countries,\u201d Trump told Fox News<\/a> after being asked about Chinese students\u2019 enrollment in American universities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If he were to restrict foreign students by half, Trump said that \u201cyou would half the colleges in the United States go out of business.\u201d<\/p>\n

University leaders feared that the administration\u2019s repeated actions against international students\u2014from visa restrictions<\/a> to travel bans<\/a>\u2014would drive enrollment down. But new Department of Homeland Security data shows resilience: as of October, there are still 1.3 million students in the U.S. with active visas, a decline of less than 1% from last year, the Washington Post reports.<\/p>\n