Schools must do more to nurture students' talents

Yu Jianchun shares his calculations at Zhejiang University in June. ZHANG BINGQING/CHINA DAILY

Yu Jianchun, a 33-year-old with no college degree, who worked for a parcel delivery company in Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang province, hit the headlines recently when he found new formulas and algorithms to some complex math problems. Guangming Daily commented on Wednesday:

Before he was invited to Zhejiang University to share his unique math formulas, Yu was no different from many migrant workers who have little higher education.

Many may wonder if there are a lot more people like Yu who remain underrated and underdeveloped with regards to their potential, and whether Yu could have achieved more success in math had he gone to college.

Of course, this does not mean China's current compulsory education and college entrance examination should only focus on students with special talents. However, it does highlight the need to improve how students are evaluated and give more freedom to teachers and students so the latter can be recruited in line with their interests.

In other words, schools should put more effort into helping youngsters discover and develop their potential, instead of urging them to give up some non-academic skills for better test scores.

That Yu, a vocational college graduate in Central China's Henan province, managed to develop five unique math formulas and inspire a university professor, is a case in point. Therefore, grassroots talents like him should be given more opportunities to support their interests and talents, be it through higher education or suitable occupations.