May and June are the hardest and most stressful months of the year for Chinese students.
Yes, we are talking about the Gaokao (“Higher Test”), a prerequisite for entrance into almost all universities in China.
It is the most frightening final exam in the Chinese education system as it determines student’s future.
Here is everything you need to know about Gaokao.
1. Stressed-out Students
During the whole school year, students are under huge amounts of pressure from their parents and teachers to do well, to be the best.
The final year of high school, especially, is often focused intensely on preparation for the Gaokao, and it isn’t unheard of for parents to go so far as quitting their own jobs to help their children study during this year.
Some students re-do the whole year if they don’t get into the university they want. And, the worst news reported by the Chinese government is that the academic pressure brought about by the examination-based education system leads many students to commit suicide every year.
2. Parents as Stressed as Students
As the parents are investing a lot on their kids, the whole family is involved in students’ success. This year, officials in different provinces of China had to manage not just students but also anxious parents.
Some schools set up care stations for parents as they waited outside examination halls, setting out seats under large umbrellas and providing water. Stations in Beijing are equipped with emergency medical supplies in case parents have sunstroke.
3. Cheating Controls
Every year police set up road blocks around schools to ensure exam rooms are silent while students take their test.
To prevent students smuggling smartphones into exam rooms, schools have installed CCTV and metal detectors. Beijing school officials banned students from bringing in smart watches and tracked the delivery of examination scripts to schools by GPS to ensure the questions were not leaked beforehand.
Officials in Henan province went as far as deploying a drone carrying a radio scanner to catch cheats.
Police also busted a cheating syndicate in Hubei and Jiangxi provinces where people were paid to pose as students and take the exam on their behalf.
4. Some Students Go International
Students who are concerned they aren’t going to get a good enough Gao Kao score to get into a top study destination in China or Asian university choose other options. They choose less prestigious courses or to study overseas.
In this way they avoid all the Gaokao stress and gain an international experience and a bigger world view. The most popular countries for Chinese students when choosing to study abroad are USA and England.
5. Study Stress Ends Up in Confetti
In response to the pressure, students have been known to tear up textbooks while waiting between exams and throwing them off school buildings in a form of protest. After some of their photos went viral on Chinese digital platforms, Xiamen local officials have banned high school students from using littering as a form of stress relief. Serious till the end.
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