Commission denies pushing English class back to Grade 3

The Beijing Commission of Education denied that it had pushed back English-language classes until the third grade in Beijing's primary schools, Guangming Daily reported on Monday.

The commission was previously reported to have released a reform plan for English teaching and studying in the capital's primary schools, which said that, starting next fall semester, pupils across the city will not have English-language classes until the third grade.

But an anonymous official with the commission told Guangming Daily that to push back English-language classes in Beijing's primary schools is just an idea, and the detailed reform plan is yet to come.

The official was also quoted as saying in the report that the reform in primary schools is closely connected to other reforms in English instruction, such as reducing the proportion of the total score for English in the national college entrance examinations, and to paying more attention to testing students' listening and speaking abilities.