China’s ‘wonder kids’ are literally too good to be true
- Primary schoolchildren who apparently carried out advanced scientific research are revealed to have had a little help from their parents
- Academic who admitted becoming ‘over-involved’ in his son’s project apologises for helping him win national science prize
A group of overly pushy Chinese parents have triggered a public backlash after it emerged they had helped their children win national science prizes.
The news that the so-called “wonder kids” were, in fact, the children of scientists who had provided a little too much help with their studies has prompted calls for society to take a more balanced approach to child-rearing and education.
On Thursday, the China Adolescents Science and Technology Innovation Contest (CASTIC) committee revoked a third prize obtained by a primary school pupil in Yunnan province.
The boy originally won the prize for genetic research into colorectal cancer but it later emerged he could not have carried out the research on his own due to his limited understanding of genetics.
His father, a specialist in tumours and stem cells at the Kunming Institute of Zoology, later admitted he had helped his son and issued a public letter apologising for his actions.
“I did not fully grasp the key competition guideline that the research report should be written by the author alone, and became over-involved into the study’s compilation process,” said the letter.
