Sunday 14 March 2010
Chinese official plan revamp for college exams
China plans to revamp its university admissions system, allowing students to take subject-specific tests and introducing other measures besides the exam to ease the stress millions of students undergo as they compete for a coveted few spots in colleges.
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Chinese official plan revamp for college exams
By CHICHI ZHANG, AP
12 March 2010
China plans to revamp its university admissions system, allowing students to take subject-specific tests and introducing other measures besides the exam to ease the stress millions of students undergo as they compete for a coveted few spots in colleges.
Currently access to university is entirely dependent on the score students gets on a two-day test on a wide range of subjects. A little more than 10.2 million students take the exam each year, and only about 25 percent of them get in. The vast majority of those who don’t make the cut go straight into the work force.
The immense pressure _ which families share, often waiting anxiously at hotels during exams - has prompted Ministry of Education officials to take another look at the generations-old tradition used to winnow a massive population into a small educated elite.
“Entrance exam test results are important, but it shouldn’t be the only factor dictating college admissions,” Sun Xiaobin, director of the Ministry of Education Policy and Regulation Department, told a news conference Friday held on the sidelines of the annual session of China’s legislature, the National People’s Congress.
Sun said planned reforms over time should ease the pressure as test results are paired with student interviews and evaluation of the student’s high school performance as part of an overall university admissions criteria. He did not give a timeframe.
Sun said it will also be less stressful for students with candidates with declared majors take separate tests at the provincial level geared toward their specific studies instead of taking a more general national test.
“Changes like this cannot happen immediately; it will be a gradual step-by-step process of working with the community, teachers and the Ministry of Education with research to implement the reforms,” Sun said.
In China, where students have grown up on rote learning and the ruling Communist Party has tried to discourage any creative thinking that may lead to challenging its authority, education officials are now struggling to transform the nation’s industry from “Made in China” to “Invented in China” with reforms aimed at cultivating a nation of innovative minds.
“Reforms in training at all levels are necessary ... especially to encourage the cultivation of innovative talents and the training of educators to further an innovative model,” Sun said.
Investment in education is one of the government’s top priorities in 2010, Premier Wen Jiabao said last week in a speech to open the congress.
A draft budget report called for education spending to increase by 9 percent to 215.99 billion yuan ($32 billion) in 2010 from 198.1 billion yuan (US$29 billion) in 2009.
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