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Uni exam reforms to benefit all concerned
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THE government’s reform of the university entrance exam system announced earlier this month will help to create more well-rounded graduates and better meet the needs of the nation’s employers, a local education chief said yesterday.
“The old college entrance exam and high school evaluation systems were riddled with problems,” said Su Ming, director of the Shanghai Education Commission.
“The process relied too heavily on one-off tests, lacked choice for students, and forced them to focus on only certain subjects,” Su said.
“The reformed system will be fairer, more scientific and give students the skills necessary for a lifetime of learning, not just to pass a solitary exam.”
Under the new arrangement, which is being piloted in Shanghai and Zhejiang Province, students will no longer be solely judged on their scores in the college entrance exam, or gaokao, but also on a comprehensive evaluation of their performance over three years at high school.
As previously reported in Shanghai Daily, from 2017, the gaokao will test students on three universal papers — Chinese, mathematics and English — and their three “options,” chosen from politics, history, geography, physics, chemistry and biology.
At present, students sit the three universal tests and just one option paper.
More choice
According to information released yesterday, students’ scores in the option papers will be graded from A+ to E.
The higher the level achieved, the greater the number of choices they will have when it comes to selecting a place at university or college.
For instance, to secure a place as a physics undergraduate at Fudan University, a student might be required to achieve no less than an A grade in their physics paper. A less prestigious institution, meanwhile, might accept students who manage only a C or D grade.
Under the new guidelines, colleges and universities will be allowed to stipulate up to three criteria for students seeking places on various courses.
Exactly how the new system will work has yet to be decided, but college and university heads were yesterday told to begin considering revisions to their application procedures, and how they will accommodate the high school students’ evaluation records.
Su said the changes will give higher education institutions the ability to select the most appropriate students for their programs.
“In the past, it was impossible to fully measure a student’s skills or talents in a particular subject as they were never tested,” he said.
For example, students would choose the physics option, and then apply for places on chemistry courses, he said.
Testing, and demonstrating knowledge of, a wider selection of courses will be much better in the long run for both students and the universities, he said.
Welcome change
Teenager Dai Xinyi, who is in her first year at Shanghai No. 8 High School, said she welcomed the changes to the exam system.
“I like the fact that we will have more options. I want learn about different things, rather than just focus on one subject for three years,” she said.
Several of her high school courses, such as geography and biology, are totally new to her and she “really wants to learn them,” she said.
“I plan to choose history, geography and physics, because they are the things I’m interested in,” she said.
In contrast, Zhang Zihan said he prefers the old way, as it allowed pupils to focus their efforts.
“I’ll have more pressure now, as I will strive for excellence in every test,” the youngster said.
Dai, however, said her classmate shouldn’t feel under any undue pressure as she has never known any different.
“There maybe many changes for the school, but we have nothing to fear because it’s still just the first time for us,” Dai said.
Wang Jiawei, also from Shanghai No. 8 High School, said he is happy to see the introduction of the comprehensive evaluations, which give value to things other than academic achievement.
“I’ve done lots of volunteer activities, which I think could work in my favor if a university is unsure as to whether or not to offer me a place,” he said.
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