The Terrifying Chinese College Entrance Exam
Many in the United States are quick to criticize standardized testing, but a glance at gaokao, China’s college entrance exam, offers some perspective on just how bad standardized testing can actually be.
By the time Chinese high school students take gaokao, they have often spent up to half their lives studying for the exam, which was first introduced in 1952 to even the opportunity gap between poor and affluent students in China.
Taken over two days, gaokao — which lasts nine hours and covers an array of subjects including Chinese literature and Mathematics — sees approximately 9 million students vie for fewer than 7 million college spots per year.
Here’s what that looks like:
Students pour over books mere minutes before the test begins. VCG/VCG via Getty Images Students come together before the test.VCG/VCG via Getty Images Students wait in a long line to enter the testing room.VCG/VCG via Getty Images Parents and close relatives tend to wait outside of testing centers, praying for their kin to do well. VCG/VCG via Getty Images Students also gather to pray before the test. VCG/VCG via Getty Images A range of emotions can be seen of the faces of the test-takers as they begin the walk inside. VCG/VCG via Getty Images Students file into a testing facility. Once inside, they are quickly checked for materials that could be used to cheat.VCG/VCG via Getty Images A girl prays before the test.VCG/VCG via Getty Images Chinese actress Xiaotong-Guan poses before taking the exam. VCG/VCG via Getty Images Students filter into double file lines.VCG/VCG via Getty Images Parents wait outside for any news on the testing.VCG/VCG via Getty Images A student cries on the day of the exam. VCG/VCG via Getty Images Last minute cramming is the final preparation for the gaokao. VCG/VCG via Getty Images A student displaying extreme focus as the testing begins. VCG/VCG via Getty Images Between the students, their parents, and other attending relatives, the gaokao literally stops traffic around the testing site.VCG/VCG via Getty Images Security officers keep things flowing smoothly around a testing facility. VCG/VCG via Getty Images A student gets a hug from a relative as a photo is taken to commemorate the day. VCG/VCG via Getty Images One parent uses a toy to help locate her child after the test is over. VCG/VCG via Getty Images Parents pile rice up a measuring board to indicate high scores. VCG/VCG via Getty Images To relieve stress, students sometimes will throw their teachers in the air after the test. VCG/VCG via Getty Images Another teacher is tossed by relieved students after testing is complete. VCG/VCG via Getty Images Exam bags find their way into the air, too. VCG/VCG via Getty Images Relatives gather to cheer on the students, much like a sporting event. VCG/VCG via Getty Images A congratulatory gift of flowers for one tired looking student.VCG/VCG via Getty Images Students celebrate finally being free from the mental anguish of the gaokao. VCG/VCG via Getty Images
This Chinese College Entrance Exam Can Make Or Break You View GalleryIn China, gaokao is a student’s sole shot at getting into a college within the country. If they don't do well on the test, they have no chance at earning a Chinese university degree, and face bleak job prospects.
Thus, students desperate to get a good score are known to take IV amino acid drips for studying energy and even enter hyperbaric oxygen chambers to reduce stress. Sometimes, the stress can prove fatal: In 2011, student Lü Pin committed suicide by jumping from his sixth floor dorm on the first day of the test.
Outside of changes in a student’s behavior, cities shut down during the test. Airplanes are rerouted, factories are closed, and car-horn honking is forbidden. Even in 2008 during the Summer Olympics, the torch relay route was moved so as not to disturb gaokao test takers.
Given the fact that more and more students are leaving China to attend college abroad — and that, as critics suggest, the test promotes memorization instead of learning, has a deleterious impact on students’ mental and emotional state, and is actually discriminatory given its region-based quota system -- some have begun to call for an end to gaokao.
As Chinese talk show host Zhong Shan said, "Is there no way at all we can avoid having the younger generation, the future of our nation, grow up in such a fearful, desperate and cruel atmosphere?"
In the end, though, numbers alone might spell gaokao's demise. Amid falling numbers of students taking gaokao — an annual survey revealed that the number of takers has fallen to record lows in Beijing, Liaoning and Jiangsu provinces — education experts just this month have pushed universities to look for new recruiting methods to keep college enrollment figures up.
Read more about equal opportunity education and how income affects your SAT score.
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