Beijing, Jun 7 (EFE).- More than 13 million Chinese students on Friday began the ‘gaokao’, the Chinese university entrance exam, a test in which young people put both their futures and their family’s prestige on the line.
In this year’s edition, which takes place Friday and Saturday, a record 13.4 million students will sit the exam, an increase of 510,000 students over the previous year.
Despite the fact that university entrance no longer gives students the prestige it did in 1977, when the ‘gaokao’ was revived after the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, the growing number of participants each year attests to the advantage that attending university still provides in Chinese society.
Experts quoted in the local press state that, as the concept of “continuing education” becomes more important in modern society, the role of the ‘gaokao’ has become less relevant than it was decades ago.
Although commentators on social media point out that it is “no longer the decisive moment for a student’s destiny”, the gaokao still determines which university the participant will end up at, which remains a deciding factor in the job market.
According to data from the specialized portal Xinchou, those who study at a university ranked among the top 50 in China earn almost 30% more in their jobs than those who studied at a university ranked between 50 and 100.
SILENCE
As it does every year, the Ministry of Education has coordinated efforts to control noise in areas near schools on the days of the exam and the days leading up to it.
It has also asked local authorities to prepare for possible “extreme weather events”, at a time when heavy rains and even floods are frequent in some areas of the country.
In addition, numerous localities have suspended activities at entertainment venues such as karaoke bars, Internet cafes and recreational facilities in the days leading up to the event.
SURVEILLANCE
Last May, the local press reported that a Beidou surveillance system (Chinese GPS navigation system) tracked the papers containing the exam questions during their transport to the schools, using vans equipped with cameras for “constant surveillance”.
In Beijing, institutions use an intelligent surveillance system: highly sensitive video recognition technology is used, capable of detecting “subtle actions” such as head turns, bending down to pick up objects, and communication between supervisors and students.
This system can quickly identify “any suspicious infringing movements” by people taking the exam, the city’s education commission announced. EFE
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