Gaokao Essay

Christian Rodriguez      808

MS51

Test after test, so much studying! The gaokao in China is a test that basically determines your future in China. If you fail or don’t score high enough you will be put to factories like many other Chinese workers. Only the best of the best who score the highest seek the brightest future. With each Chinese student thinking about this it makes many Chinese students try there hardest studying or taking the test. All the stress that lays on this test makes students do crazy things in order to be able to keep studying. If you do bad on this test you will become apart of another statistic in China. This isn’t fair that so much stress is put on teenagers, and even if they score high it doesn’t always mean they will become extremely wealthy, this just means they will be at least middle class with a good job.

According to the article, “China’s Cram Schools” states the following, “Teenage suicide rates tend to rise as the gaokao nears.” Another unfair disadvantage these students are applied to is that people who live in rural areas are at a severe disadvantage such as Yuejin have poor schools and few well trained teachers so how are they supposed to rely on not trained teachers to give them a good future? According to a student in China he states, “ There’s nothing to do but study,” since most forms of entertainment and even dating is banned. Here in the United States there are several tests that makes Universities also look into test grades to see if you get in or not but its that severe because most Universities here are good and even the good Universities in China aren’t very good, not mentioning the pricy costs.

When schools don’t have trained teachers schools result to other things of punishment in order to push students such as Maotanchang high school, “ Maotancahng is different than a typical Chinese high school only in the extreme degree of its harsh rules and long hours, but its curriculum is essentially the same; Everything taught in 10th and 11th grade is focused on what the gaokao tests Chinese language, math, foreign language (usually English) and either social studies and literature or sciences. In 12th grade, students typically just review and memorize what they’ve already learned. Teachers dole out lessons and frequently punish students with military rigor; their job security and bonuses depend on raising their students’ test scores.” As you can see even other peoples’ pay depend on what the students place on the test which I believe is outrageous because what does security have to do with the students placement on the test? Aren’t security guards just supposed to protect students/the school from harm? Here in the United States all students go beyond their own road and decide how much they are dedicated to placing on tests. We don’t force anyone to do anything, you choose your own path.

Not taking into mind not only do the students suffer but the parents also suffer because they have to work long days such as Cao’s parents having to work 12 hour  days building high-rises in eastern China in order to pay for his High School expenses. Even when they do bad or tank on the test sometimes they don’t have enough for a repeat year so they are forced to go do manual labor at factories or construction sites. Here in the United States everyone has the option to work in places no matter what type of skills you lack or have. With China’s economy booming ever since China fell the fact that schools are being treated like this isn’t the helping the country at all.