I have just finished uploading the work to the contest "The Everlasting Summer". I tried to make use of colouring tools which have not been used for a long time. One is crayon. I don't think I have used crayons since I was in kindergarten. I remember that the crayons that I use this time are the free gifts given by a children magazine which stopped publishing a long long time ago.

I don't know why kindergarten and primary school teachers restrain the choice of colouring tools used in art lessons. When we are in kindergarten, we are only allowed to use crayons, in junior primary school, pastels, and in senior secondary school, poster colour.
While I was in kindergarten, when the school term ends we can bring the crayons back home. And while I was in primary school, we must buy a box of pastels and poster colour at the start of every school term, even though there were leftovers from the previous school term. Now at my home, there are still many boxes of poster colour of which some are brand new.

I think school children should be exposed to different kinds of colouring tools. Different tools require different skills teachers should allow children to learn more. They don't have to be very skillful at using every tool but at least they should let them try. It contradicts the aim of learning if students' opportunities are restrained. Some people may think the students can try by themselves, not at school, but students may not be afford to buy different tools just to try out. Also students are busy after school nowadays, so why won't let them try during lessons?

Perhaps the restrictions set by teachers are for easier assessment, i.e. it is easier to assess and compare when every one is using the same tool. However, I believe the purpose of including art lessons in the school curriculum is to develop students' creativity, help them express themselves and foster their ability to appreciate and concentrate and so on, but by adding such restriction the students are actually exploited, without anyone noticing it.

The resource of a school may be a cause to the problem. As mentioned, students may not have enough money to buying different tools, so the school should provide the tools. In addition to greater expenditure by the school, storage is also a problem as many classrooms here in Hong Kong are so small. (This might not be the case now as the birthrate has been dropping, but the with the implementation of smaller classes there may be a problem of lack of space again.)

Finally, I hope more resources could be allocated for art in primary education and teachers nowadays can be more flexible, for the sake of our children.