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What the Hell is the Gaokao

2017-06-08 ShanghaiWOWeng

If you’ve ever lived in China during the month of June, you’ve no doubt heard the word ‘Gaokao,’ likely from some Chinese teenager on the verge of a complete nervous breakdown. But what the hell is it? If you don’t already know, here are the basics:



WHAT IS IT?

  • National college entrance exam  that takes place each June and lasts 2-3 days.

  • Gaokao (高考) is short for 普通高等学校招生全国统一考试 (“The National Higher Education Entrance Examination”).


WHY’S IT SO IMPORTANT??

The exam is the single biggest factor when it comes to determining whether or not they can go to college—and/or which schools they can attend.



IS IT HARD?

The Gaokao isn’t necessarily hard, but very comprehensive. It also includes famously ambiguous essay questions. For example:


Topic: Roads

Based on the three given uses of ‘road’, write an essay.

1. “The Earth had no roads to begin with, but when many men passed one way, a road was made.” —Lu Hsun (Lu Xun)

2. There is no such thing as a road that dare not to be walked, only people who dare not to walk it.

3. You may take the wrong road sometimes, but if you keep walking, it will become a brand new road.


WHAT'S ON THE TEST?

  • Subjects usually include Chinese language and literature, mathematics, a foreign language (usually English), and one or more subjects of the student’s choice.

  • The ‘student’s choice’ subject depends on the student's expected major in college, often there are categories like Social Studies, Physics, Politics, , History, Biology, or Chemistry.


PREPARING FOR THE GAOKAO

  • Serious students spend most of their final high school year preparing for the exam.

  • Students face an enormous amount of pressure from parents and teachers to do well.

  • Chinese society often goes to great lengths to support  test-takers, especially on testing days. Testing sites and nearby areas are often declared ‘quiet zones’ where construction and even traffic are banned to reduce noise. Police officers, taxi drivers, and other car owners often offer free rides to students they see walking the streets to their exam locations.

  • There are even stories of parents quitting their jobs to help their children study during this year.


AFTERMATH

  • Students are typically given test results 2-3 weeks after the take the exam.

  • Students who fail or do poorly sometimes spend another year studying and retake the test the following year.

  • Many local essay questions get published online and in newspapers, sometimes becoming hotly-debated topics.



CONTROVERSY

Aside from the controversial essay questions, the Gaokao system as a whole is often accused of having a regional bias. Most schools have a quota for how many students they accept from each province, offering more spots to students living in their home province.That means that living in a province with a good university offers a higher likelihood of acceptance there. 


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