China’s Cram Schools

  Waking up at about 5am everyday, to get to your first class of the day which starts at 6:20am. There, you will study for the annual exam that 9 million students take for college admission, the Gaokao test. Throughout the day, you study Chinese, mathematics, a foreign language (usually English), and three other topics drawn from a pool of electives. Along with 20,000 other students. This test determines your entire future. If you score poorly on this test, any work you did prior to it will not do you any good or get you any jobs.

This test is called the Gaokao test. It puts major amounts of stress on students and leaves them with very little sleep and free time. Students put in all the effort they can in order to do well on this test because with a change of just a few points, they could have no future. The Gaokao exam determines weather a student gets into college or not. Maotanchang, one of China’s cram schools which holds 20,000 students, does everything possible to eliminate distractions from a students everyday life. “Cellphones and laptops are forbidden, the dorms in which half of the students life have no electrical outlets, and dating is also forbidden. In town, where the other half of the students live, the local government has shut down all forms of entertainment. There is no video arcade, billiards hall, or internet cafe.” States Brook Larmer, author of “China’s Cram Schools” in Upfront Magazine. “There is nothing to do but study” says Yang, a former student at Maotanchang.

The Gaokao test is twice as long as the SAT/ACT exams and the stakes are much higher. Students reach the extremes studying and preparing for this test. “Its critics say it stifles creativity and puts excessive pressure on students. Teenage suicide rates tend to rise as the Gaokao nears. Two years ago, a student posted a shocking photograph online: a classroom full of students all hooked up to intravenous drips to give them the strength to keep studying.” states Brook Larmer, author of “China’s Cram Schools” in Upfront Magazine. This shows how intense and time consuming this test it and how far desperate students are to pass it. This also shows that there should be other ways to get into college other than this exam. If suicide rates raise when the exam is nearing and students feel the need to hook themselves up to ivs to continue studying, there is a clear problem, but since there isn’t, students know and understand how much this test means to them and they are willing to devote all their time to it.

Although a majority of the students in China take the Gaokao exam, those who come from wealthier families don’t necessarily need to. “The government is pushing reforms to reduce student workloads and allowing universities to consider factors other than Gaokao scores. But these efforts have met resistance from many parents, who fear that easing pressure could hurt their childs exam results and jeopardize their futures. Many wealthy families are simply opting out of the system, placing their children in private international schools in China or sending them abroad for education.”  Says Brook Larmer, author of “China’s Cram Schools” in Upfront Magazine. This shows that with money, some students can receive a better education (rather than going to cram schools or Chinese public schools)  and have other options from the Gaokao. Wealthy families can hire private tutors, pay for test-prep courses, or bribe their way into the cities best schools. In other cases, rural students face “severe” disadvantages. They have poor schools, few well-trained teachers, and most of those people can’t afford tutors. If a student does not pass the Gaokao exam they usually end up working in a factory or having a construction job. Those jobs are avoided in every way possible because they pay minimum wage.

In conclusion, there should be other ways for students to gain college admission than the Gaokao tests.These tests put insane and unimaginable amounts of pressure on Chinese students that are completely unnecessary. There are many factors that could affect a student while taking this test. Pressure, anxiety, lack of confidence and intelligence, ect. That does not mean a student is non-eligible to enter collage or get a decent paying job. Every single student who goes through all the preparation and hours of studying for this test deserves at the least deserves a decent salary in the future. Once again, the Gaokao exams should not be the only way to gain college admission. They are unjust and extremely too difficult to count for a students college admission in full.