Results tagged “gaokao”

It's tough being a student in China. In addition to all the regular adolescent troubles, like being bullied by your classmates and potentially your teacher, you've also got to worry about getting into college. And the college entrance exam is no easy task: the gaokao can make or break your entire future, depending on how far down the line of causality you want to follow it. Students will do anything to get good marks: cheating is rampant, and intensive study camps are a

The test prep industry in China is cutthroat, to put it nicely. The South China Morning Post published an article on the intense competition amongst private tutors in Hong Kong, which sounds so fierce and backstabbing that it's just begging for a reality television show (if one's not in the works already). Popular tutors can make as much as one million HKD a month, provided that they have the hype and publicity to keep the students flowing in.

Youku Buzz has found an upload of Senior Year (高三). The 94-minute video documents the last year of classes at No. 1 High School of Wuping in Fujian Province and won the best documentary award at the 30th Hong Kong International Film Festival in 2006. Luckily, this version contains English subtitles so everyone can follow along.

  

We've talked at length about the national exams (or gaokao) that have been making our Chinese compatriots' lives hell the last month. Every year there's a couple of weird controversies, usually relating to cheating or illegal registration or the like, and this year was no exception.

You may have noticed two otherwise inconspicuous high school students recently featured on the front page of the Xin Jing Bao (The Beijing News), and if not, you probably noticed that something strange was going on earlier this month. In both instances, the gaokao (高考) is to blame.

The national university entrance examination: a rite of passage for many Chinese students, and all important, some might say, in determining much of what happens in your life afterwards. It's a lot of pressure for 17 and 18 year-old kids. This video was taken in Hankou, supposedly before the test. One might be more inclined to celebrate afterwards, though of course those that might not have done so well would perhaps seek solace in Johnny Walker, as one does in times of need.

19 local college students took their lives last year, according to a Shanghai Education Commission study, one of the first of its kind to list the seven causes of death for college students.

According to the Shanghai Daily, this Sunday, over 500 students tried to use false admission notices to register at Shanghai Normal University's school of mathematics and science. As the school denied having issued any admission notices at all, there was little doubt about the authencity of their documents: "The university authority was quite confused by the sudden influx of 'check-in' students," said one of the university's publicity officials. "It is almost impossible for a single school to enroll so many students at a time, let alone unqualified ones". This attempt says quite a lot about the desperate measures a failed gaokao, university admission test, can lead to.

A new documentary film comparing six high school students from China, the U.S. and India calls for reform of the U.S. education system in favor of the more rigorous Asian education systems. Two Million Minutes, a film developed by American venture capitalist Bob Compton, points out that students in China and India work much harder than those in the U.S., score consistently better than American students on international student comparisons, and now pose a threat to American students' job prospects in the U.S. In the movie's trailer, one American high school student gabs about sororities while her Chinese counterpart is featured fiercely practicing her violin.