Ninety percent of young students get less than the recommended national standard of 10 hours' sleep, a recent survey on Shenyang's Grade 3 pupils has found.

In fact, last year, 59 percent of the students slept fewer than seven hours per day, according to the Shenyang Institute of Education.

The finding was reported by Shenyang Evening News on Wednesday.

"The main reason for their lack of sleep is that there is too much homework," said Xu Shuo, deputy director of the institute.

Another survey by Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences shows that 60 percent of junior middle school students in Shenyang sleep less than eight hours.

To reduce the schoolwork burden, more than 160 schools in Shenyang have reformed their teaching models. According to the education instituted in Shenyang, more than 70 new teaching methods have been implemented, including a "zero homework class", interactive teaching, verbal homework and other innovations.

"The goal of curriculum reform should be serving children's lifelong development. Therefore, it is very important to reduce the heavy schoolwork burden on students," Xu said.