The gaokao is a test that high
schoolers in China must take in order to determine what college and eventually
job they will go to and have. There is much stress riding on their single test
for millions of Chinese students. The magazine Upfront has an article called “China’s
Cram Schools” that discuses the process many take preparing for this test and
all the stress involved. This stress is damaging, unneeded, and unfair to
students. For example, this test creates super high stress levels that are
unhealthy for students, a bad environment for the students in general as well
as an unfair situation for the parents and teachers of the students.
Super
high stakes such as these for the gaokao lead to an unhealthy amount of stress
on the students. Loads of stress can be physically and mentally damaging
especially at such a young age. It
states in the article “teenage suicide rates start to rise as the gaokao nears.
It also states from a boy named Cao, “My mother constantly reminds me that I
have to study hard because my father is out working construction far from home
to pay my school fees.” This is a crazy amount of pressure and for most there
is no way to escape this.
These
students also have work in horrible environments. Many go to “cram schools”
where they are packed into rooms with thousands of other students studying
around the clock. In the article it states, “Two years ago, a student posted a shocking
photograph online. A classroom full of students being hooked up to “intravenous
drips” to give them strength to keep studying. This was shocking to many but
many find necessary with all the pressure to succeed.
Another
major, unfair factor in the process of the gaokao is money. Poor families put
all they have into test prep for the gaokao in order to help the kids escape
their fate as a manual laborer and hopefully go to a good collage where they
can get a high paying job and support their family. Wealthy families can afford
fancy test prep or even other options. It states in the article “Many wealthy
families are simply opting out of the system, placing their children in private
international schools in china or sending them abroad for an education.” For
others there is no alternative to the gaokao, this extremely unfair.
Overall
the gaokao is just another test that can be compared to American standardized
tests but it puts much more extreme pressure on teachers, parents and most of
all, students. This test is out of hand and needs to be addressed. It is unfair
for all this pressure to be put on a high school student toward a test that
will determine the rest of their life.
