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College entrance exam evolving
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THE national college entrance examination (gaokao) is an annual test given on China’s mainland. It is usually taken by students in their last year of high school, even though there has been no age restriction since 2001.
Gaokao started in the early years when modern universities emerged in China, and continued after the foundation of the People's Republic of China in 1949 until the “cultural revolution” (1966-76) began in 1966, when the normal pace of the education system and other sectors of life were disrupted.
In the early 1970s, the operation of universities started to resume. In late 1977, Deng Xiaoping officially resumed the traditional examination based on academics, and henceforth the national college entrance examination continues to today.
The first such examination after the “cultural revolution” took place in late 1977, and it was an epoch-making event. There was no limit on the age and educational background of examinees. The youngest were in their early teens, and the oldest in their late 30s. The questions on the examinations were designed by the individual provinces.
Eventually, only about 1 percent of the examinees nationwide were admitted to colleges. Starting from 1978, the examination was uniformly designed by the Ministry of Education, and all students across the country took the exact same test. In recent years, however, many provinces have been allowed to design their own examinations.
Although today's admission rate is much higher than 1977, 1978 and before the 1990s, it is still fairly low compared with the availability of higher education in Western countries.
The college entrance examination is arranged at the end of the spring semester, and high-school graduates across the country take the examination simultaneously. Before 2003, the examination was held in July, but has since been moved to early June. This move was made in consideration of the adverse effect of hot weather on students living in southern China and possible floods during the rainy season, which the month of July is well within.
The exam is administered over three days. Three subjects are mandatory everywhere: Chinese language, mathematics and English language.
The other six standard subjects are the sciences of physics, chemistry and biology, and the three humanities of history, geography and political education. Applicants to science/engineering or art/humanities programs take one to three tests from the relevant category. The requirement now varies from province to province.
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