Chinese Students’ opinions about the Chinese High School Entrance Examination
Here we are in Beijing, taking a look at the attitude concerning gaokao, or the High School Entrance Examination. In every corner of China, from Tibet to Shanghai, every Chinese student is required to take the gaokao. This test is one of the main determinants in Chinese students’ acceptance to college. It’s the only major assessment for Chinese students. Many of these students have called this test, “The Battle to Determine Fate.” For most of their lives, Taking the gaokao is accompanied by 80-hour study weeks, no free time, and giving up holidays in order to achieve a better grade. At least, that’s how Chinese students’ lives are interpreted as according to past articles written by Australian News, BBC News, and CNN. But do Chinese students really express the importance of gaokao the way the western media does? How important is it to their futures? And if they fail, what happens next?
We have interviewed two Chinese students: Xiaoxiao from Beijing, and Wang Shaojie from Huangshan in Anhui Province. The first thing I wanted to ask is if they believed that the gaokao is a determining factor in Chinese student’s futures.
Xiaoxiao responded with:
“Mmm, not really. Because gaokao is just for the university, if you like, you can choose many different subjects. It’s just, uh, exam.”
Wang Shaojie in a comparative statement said:
“For my parents and teachers, that’s right, but I don’t think so. If a student doesn’t do well at gaokao, but he is diligent, I think he can also succeed. The gaokao doesn’t prove a student’s ability. It can only prove his learning ability is good.
And in a follow up on asking what he would do if he failed, all he said was:
“If I failed gaokao, I will try again.”
There is a clear disparity between what the western media says about the gaokao and Chinese Students’ personal opinions. The Chinese students’ portrayal is more nonchalant compared to the Western Media’s and they claim that the gaokao is not as big of a determining factor in their futures. From Foreign Accent in Beijing, this is Daniel Gallups.
