University entrance exam is not the be-all, end-all in life
Millions in China took the test this week and it’s important that these young people know that, pass or fail, the future can still be bright
Every Asian society seems to have its own version of exam hell. In China, it’s called gaokao. More than nine million high school graduates took the notoriously gruelling annual university entrance exam this week.
On the mainland, it is considered a rite of passage, the only means for most youngsters to have a shot at a university education. The entire nation comes together to enable 9.4 million young people across the country to take their exam on time. It is not an exaggeration to call gaokao the most important academic challenge to their young lives so far. Many may have spent their entire senior year to prepare for this all-important exam.
They may take comfort from the encouraging words of Stephen Hawking, the world-famous astrophysicist who has a huge following in China’s social media.
“Be fearless in the pursuit of your aspirations,” he wrote on his Weibo page.
Still, it is not the be-all, end-all that many young people and their parents have made it out to be. One needs to be hopeful – and realistic. Only about 60 per cent make it into university on the basis of their gaokao scores. And only 0.2 per cent get into the very top schools such as Peking, Tsinghua and Fudan universities.