KUZMISHINA,ARINA

LEE JUHWAN
ABDELHAKIM FAHMY ABDELRIHIM AHMED,NASHWA
CHEN JIRUI
CONTENTS

Introduction of “gaokao” system Influence of exam-

our topic oriented System on
Students' Educational
Stress

Education system reform Conclusion

measures in recent years
Introduction
section 1
Why choose this topic?
• 1. Academic stress is a general problem faced by students in China due to the examination-
oriented education

• (spartan education) time routine for students in second high school of Hengshui: wake up at
5:30 o'clock and study until bedtime at 10:10 p.m.

• The detection rate of depression among adolescents in 2020 was 24.6%, with the detection rate
of mild depression at 17.2%, 0.4 percentage points higher than in 2009. Major depression was
7.4%.

• The detection rate of depression showed an increasing trend as the grade level increased.

• data from 2020 Mental Health Blue Book "China National Mental Health Development Report
(2019~2020)

detection rate of detection rate of severe

depression depression

primary school 10% 1.9-3.3%

middle school 30% 7.6%-8.6%
high school 40% 10.9-12.5%
2. China has a very unique education system and test-taking system, the most famous one is the
college entrance examination (gaokao)

1) it seems there is positive correlation with college entrance examination with academic stress
faced by high school students

In both junior and senior secondary schools in China, students in their final years (grade 9 in
junior schools and grade 12 in senior schools) report more pressure than non-final year students,
related to the two most important transitional examinations.

source from:Sun, Hansen, Dunne, Michael, Hou, Xiang- Yu, & Xu, Aiqiang (2013)

2) so it’s valuable for us to analyze the impact of exam-oriented system on educational stress and
to see the reforms in education system have any effects.
gaokao system
section 2
2.1 Introducition of education system in China
1.The education system in China is divided
into three levels: primary, secondary, and
tertiary education.
1）free public education sponsered by
government in primary and secondary school
or private school
The Academic Test for the Junior
High School Students
2)regular high school or vocational high school
“gaokao”
3)university / college (tertiary education)
2.brief history of gaokao
Combining the examination thinking and
values of the 1,300-year keju system with the
methods and means of the modern Western
examination system, college entrance
examination system in RPC was officially
established in 1952.
The college entrance examination was
reinstated after an 11-year hiatus in 1977.
Intellectuals suspended in the “cultural
revolution” (1966-76) rushed to the “Gaokao.”
China's college entrance examination has
gone from free to fee-based, expanding the
number of examinees and relaxing the age
limit after its reopen.
2.2 advantages and shortages
advantages
• promote universal schooling, minimize
discrimination against the poor
• (The gaokao places no limits on gender, age,
the number of times you can participate, or
official educational background. Thus, there
are more chances for those without
recognized status.)
shortages
1) regional imbalance
unequal distribution of education resources
among East and west or Coastal areas and
inland areas due to social and economic
standing
A student who comes from a lower
socioeconomic background may feel much
more pressure from the gaokao as a key to
social mobility and to provide for her or his
family.
2) the pressure to outperform competitors
exists at each level of the education system
Influence of exam-oriented System on
Students' Educational Stress
section 3
some reforms after reopening of gaokao system in mid-1980s

Introducing “competition mechanisms” into secondary education and promoting “competition

consciousness” among teachers and students were the major themes of educational discourses
during the time in order to meet the requirements of rapid economic development for talents

• 要经过严格考试，把最优秀的人集中在重点中学和重点大学。——邓小平

• Students must pass strict examinations and concentrate the best students and teachers in key
middle schools and key universities. ——Deng Xiaoping

• quasi-decentralization in education

• The central government shifted the responsibility of funding and managing schools to lower
levels of govenment and open schools to competitive market forces.

• But due to unbalanced regioanl economic development, Chinese schools have to do all they can
to outperform their competitors in average student test scores to compete the resources.

• The pressure to outperform competitors exists at each level of the education system and is
passed on to the lower levels and ultimately to individual students.
students' educational stress
1. influenced by environment
parents: parental anxiety connecting higher gaokao grade and entry to good university with
future career success, referring to high-status and high-income job
Chinese parents endorse the idea of extensive parental (and grand-parental) involvement in
promoting children’s school success.
phenomenon：send children to tutorial schools for advanced study
schools: To increase competitiveness，schools keep students in classes for long hours, assign
large amounts of homework, and organize countless mock exams.
peer comparison: “ involution”

competition for better grades endlessly

society: social illness--the diploma disease
In a society in which the “quality” (suzhi) and value of individuals are often judged, in both the job
market and daily social interactions, by what academic degrees they have obtained and from
which universities.
This exacerbates parents' high demands on children's grades.
• 2. influenced by themselves

1) tend to have higher expectations and requirements on their academic performace by

themselves

2) Influenced by the collectivism, students will try their best to get good grades and make their
parents and teachers proud. For example, raising the rank of average score of the class in the
grade is regarded as a sense of class honor.

3) facing the dilemma of struggle of selfishness and loyalty to their parents

• they have high expectations for themselves to lead fulfilling lives but also understand their role
to be good students who take the gaokao since parents sacrifice a lot for them.

• a contradicton between personal habits cultivation and study focusing

Education system reform
measures in recent years
section 4
• g o ve r n m e n ts h a ve ta ke n m e a su r e s to r e l i e ve a ca d e m i c b u r d e n s i n ce 2 0 ye a r s a g o .

• In 2000, the Chinese Ministry of Education issued the “Urgent Regulations for Alleviating the Academic
Burden of Primary School Students.” The document set strict limits to the number of required textbooks,
th e a m o u n t o f h o m e w o r k , a n d th e ti m e stu d e n ts sp e n t i n sch o o l .

• It d i d n ’ t w o r k b e ca u se p a r e n ts co n ti n u e d to se n d th e i r ch i l d r e n to tu to r i a l cl a sse s, a n d sch o o l s co n ti n u e d
to rank students based on test scores, assign large amount of homework, and leave little or no time for
p h ysi ca l a cti vi ti e s e ve n i n th e fa ce o f str o n g ce n tr a l g o ve r n m e n t p r e ssu r e s.

• spring of 2013, the Chinese government launched a national campaign called “Reduce academic burden:
Te n - th o u sa n d - m i l e s j o u r n e y” a g a i n st th e i n e ffe cti ve n e ss o f p r e vi o u s p o l i ci e s

• provide supervision method to society like email accounts and phone numbers to facilitate public tip-offs
about “behaviors that undermine the policies aimed at reducing academic burden or further increase
stu d e n ts’ l e ve l s o f str e ss.”

• r e su l t: sti l l fa i l e d

• increased business for tutorial schools, which are not subject to government monitoring, and increased
burden for parents to find tutorial schools for their children so that they would not fall behind of peers
d u r i n g th e ca m p a i g n ti m e w h e n th e i r o w n sch o o l s a n d te a ch e r s ca n n o t o ffe r tu to r i a l cl a sse s.
• they ever tried to shift a transmission-oriented teaching centered approach to an inquiry-oriented
child centered practice

• in 2001, the Chinese government initiated a comprehensive curriculum reform to change the old
knowledge-based and test-oriented curriculum that was perceived as imposing heavy burdens on
students and teachers.

• however, it increased the workload of teachers and students. Schools required teachers to teach
in new and “creative” ways so that they could foster students’ independent thinking at the same
time as they prepared them for test-taking.

• “paradigmatic war” between the pedagogic tradition of the former Soviet Union that has shaped
Chinese education in theory, classroom practice, and institutional power structure since the
1950s and the American tradition of curriculum studies that has guided the design of the new
curriculum.
recent effective reforms
• 1. Opinions on further reducing the burden of homework and off-campus training for students in
the compulsory education stage---“double reduction policy”

• 1）the document bans local authorities from approving any new tutoring institutions for
academic course training.

• Manage chaotic phenomena such as learning beyond the standards in totorial schools，
difficulty in refunding fees and companies absconding with the money.

• 2)In terms of school, the quality of school education and teaching and service level have been
further improved, homework assignments are more scientific and reasonable, school after-
school services should basically meet the needs of students.

• shortages：

• Huge blow to education and training institutions

• The rise of one-on-one private education, the root cause is not resolved
• 2. “trinity system" 三位一体招生

• first launched a pilot project in Zhejiang province in 2014

• measurements convert grades of high school evaluation test、recruitment interviews by the

university and national college entrance exam（count not less than 50%）together.

• Not only based on the gaokao score, comprehensively measure the quality level of students

• shortages:

• Inevitably there will be cases of fraud

• Increase the pressure on candidates to prepare interview preparation materials outside the
exam
• 3. In January 2020, the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China issued a
document canceling independent enrollment and replacing it with the Strong Foundation
Program (pilot reform of enrollment reform in basic subjects)

• All candidates are required to take gaokao. Candidates are sorted according to the total score
of 85% of the college entrance examination score and 15% of the school test score, from high
to low. The number of admission plans is arranged by province.

• choose one project

• implement after the gaokao

• measure by exam, more accurately

Conclusion

• No system is perfect, but China's progress on access to education is

admirable. Policy can now shape opportunity into fulfillment by valuing
individual happiness, balance and diverse talents alongside merit. China's
future competitiveness will come from vibrant, creative, globally-minded
students - supported by an education system focused not just on testing
knowledge but nurturing life. The key may lie in cultural views of
success, institutions that value wellbeing as an end itself, and incremental
progress balancing values of achievement and health for China's youth.
Reference
• Sun, Hansen, Dunne, Michael, Hou, Xiang- Yu, & Xu, Aiqiang. (2013). Educational stress
among Chinese adolescents: individual, family, school and peer influences. Educational Review,
65(3), pp. 284-302. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/218587/

• Xu Zhao, Robert L. Selman & Helen Haste. (2015). Academic stress in Chinese schools and a
proposed preventive intervention program, Cogent Education, 2:1,1000477,

DOI: 10.1080/2331186X.2014.1000477

• Helen Chen.(2021). The Gaokao: How China’s College Entrance Exam affects Chinese Students’
Well-Being. https://crsn-ev.org/students-in-china/