Due to the intensifying academic competition among primary school students, many people argue that schools place excessive emphasis on formal learning. I completely agree with this view. However, while play has a valuable place in early education, I believe it should play a secondary role to core academic instruction, as both schools and students must navigate rigorous academic expectations.
An overwhelming focus on formal learning has become the norm largely because parents realize that high academic performance is crucial for admission to prestigious secondary schools. Furthermore, school administrators must accommodate these demanding expectations to remain competitive, especially amid declining birth rates where school survival depends on strong academic track records. Consequently, primary students are overburdened with challenging curricula, extensive homework, and continuous testing. For instance, teachers from prestigious schools often report that students use recess to complete assignments because post-school hours are consumed by additional revision and tutoring.
On the other hand, I do not believe play should carry equal weight to structured instruction in the classroom. While advocates argue that play-based learning helps children acquire knowledge in a relaxed environment, my experience as a frontline teacher suggests that educational games are best used merely as supplementary consolidation tools. Traditional methods, such as written exercises and structured practice, remain far more effective for core skill acquisition. For example, when my school briefly shifted to a play-heavy curriculum to promote a “happy learning” ethos, academic performance declined significantly due to reduced time spent on foundational practice, forcing us to return to a more structured format. Outside classroom hours, children already have ample opportunities to relax through extracurricular activities and school holidays.
In conclusion, primary schools currently focus excessively on formal learning due to parental pressure and institutional competition. Nevertheless, while incorporating play is beneficial for engagement, it cannot replace structured academic learning, as students ultimately require strong foundational knowledge to succeed in their future education.