An exam for both students and parents
BEIJING - More than 9 million students sit China's notoriously tough college entrance exams on Thursday, with "high-flyer" rooms, nannies and even intravenous drips among the tools being employed for success.
With just 6.85 million university spots on offer this year, competition for the top institutions is intense, and attempts to cheat are rife - more than 1,500 people have been arrested on suspicion of selling transmitters and hard-to-detect ear pieces.
Parents and students this year are also resorting to some outlandish but legal methods to ensure nothing goes wrong in the make-or-break two-day exam.
Students have reportedly been given pre-exam injections and intravenous drips designed to boost energy levels, while girls have resorted to hormone injections and birth control pills to delay menstruation.
"There are situations where girls take pills to delay their periods until after the exams," a gynaecologist at Beijing's Chaoyang Hospital, who declined to give his name, told AFP.
Some of the more affluent parents have rented houses close to the 7,300 exam venues across the country, while so-called "high-flyer rooms" are being offered in the port city of Tianjin, according to the state-run China Daily newspaper.
The special hotel rooms - which cost up to 800 yuan ($160) more than an ordinary room - are billed as having previously been rented out to someone who scored high points in the exams.
Rooms with lucky numbers such as six - which symbolises success in Chinese culture, or eight - which represents wealth - are also favourites.
"Every year the house rental market heats up ahead of gaokao (the Chinese name for the exam)," Jin Guangze, a teacher from the Beijing Experimental High School told the China Daily.
The exam has also given rise to a new and lucrative industry - the gaokao baomu - or "exam nannies" - who are tasked to look after students during the exam period.
"The nannies are well-qualified with at least a college-level degree," said Jennifer Liu, marketing manager at Coleclub - an agency that provides household help and has offered the service since 2009.
"They are there to help the students - cook meals, wash clothes, tutor the students and offer support for their mental well-being," she told AFP.
Liu declined to disclose how much it cost to hire a nanny, but media reports say the service costs an average 4,000 yuan over a 10-day period.
After reading this article I felt shocked at what happened during the period for the college entrance exams in China. Due to the large population of students taking the exams, the competition is tough and various ways were used to help each student do well in the entrance exams, from notorious means like cheating, to superstitious ways like renting a house with lucky numbers; and also use of medicine like energy-boosting injections and even period-delaying pills for girls just for the exams. I am surprised that being the students’ nanny during the exam period could be a high paying job, with average wages of 4000 Yuan over the 10 day period. In conclusion, this article really enlightens me how different China is compared to Singapore due to their large population. I feel that a smaller population may not be that good, but a oversized population may be worse. Even though many feel that the Singapore society is competitive, China’s is definitely worse because of the huge population.
ReplyDeleteThe article tell us about the "GaoKao" phenomenon that happens in China. I feel that it is a good indicator that in the current society, not having a degree is a major handicap when you look for jobs. I feel lucky being in Singapore, even though the competition is still fierce, but i don't think it can beat the competition in china.
ReplyDeleteI also feel that with all these gimmicks that range from cheating to delaying menstrual cycle during GaoKao, it really stresses the point of tertiary education.
I learn that there's a market of opportunities anywhere in china as long as one is able to discover it.
In conclusion I'm feel like being in Singapore is a double edge blade. I don't face the fierce competition during education but there's is also a smaller market of opportunities here.
I believe this shows how extremely important education is in China from how both parents and students would go to such lengths to ensure that the students pass the exams. The competition for entry to top institutions is obviously intense since there are limited spots offered for students. As only 6.85 million university spots are offered for more than 9 million students, it is no wonder some would even cheat just to gain entry to the top institutions.
ReplyDeleteGetting exam nannies or pre-exam injection is not cheap and they prepare so much for a two-day exam. Parents are willing to spend money, time and effort so as to safeguard their children's education which shows how education is definitely a top priority for them due to the tough competition.
Students might also feel motivated because of all these support from their parents and since some are even willing to resort to injections to boost their energy levels or for girls, to delay their menstruation, it shows the commitment they have towards their education.
Alan:
ReplyDeleteI personally feel that being a student in China is very stressful and have to be very competitive, as you are competing against more than 9 million students for only 6.58 million university places, let alone the fact that there is limited places in top universities like Peking, Tshinghua, Fudan and etc. Under such circumstances, there is no doubt that both parents and students displayed extreme anxiety and nervousness as it concerns the future of their path.
Many parents or students have resorted to various methods to ensure a smooth examination. An example would be hormone injections to delay girl’s menstrual period. I feel that such methods may not be wrong but we got to know the limits, it is certainly not worthwhile to hurt yourself during this period of time. Cheating is definitely unnecessary and a serious offense, which cannot be forgiven.
In conclusion, I feel that as long as you work hard and give it your best, believe in yourself that you will definitely pass with flying colors. As the saying goes ‘Success is a journey, not a destination’, failure is not fatal, it is the courage to continue that counts.
To some, they may find this article a bit ridiculous. However, this is what exactly happened in China every year during this period.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the given figures can roughly give people the idea of how intense the competition level is, however, one can never understand the feeling if he or she did not experience it.
When we finish our education, be it tertiary or university, and going into the society, I'm sure that there are even more challenges/obstacles ahead. There is hard work; there is also effort in return. For the Chinese students, after going through that hectic period, they can definitely manage stress better than us in the future. Hence, the intense competition can also be seen as a long-term benefit.
However, there is also limit to everything. When the stress level is way beyond the students' limit, then it is more of a disaster to the students rather than benefit.
To conclude, I would suggest that students should not stress too much over results. Education is definitely important, however, a best result does not guarantee a brightest future. There are countless examples of Successful people who are not highly educated and shall be not mention here.