I’ve been following with great interest the discussion about education in China currently going on at James Fallows’ blog. Given the time of the year, it is unsurprising that the conversation has started to turn toward that ominous date in early June (no, CCP censors…the OTHER one) when Moms and Dads trundle their teenagers to THE test which will decide whether the previous decade-plus of cajoling, hectoring, threatening, love, and support will pay off with acceptance at a top tier school.
Does the gaokao, or testing in general, result in a more meritocratic society? This post is one from the archives, originally written June 6, 2007 on the gaokao and other exams in Chinese history. Enjoy.
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The gaokao, exams, and social mobility in Chinese history
Today is the gaokao (高 考) when parents across China send their senior high school students off to take the most important exam of their lives, offering such helpful, encouraging words as “If you do badly your mother will die in a pauper’s grave.” Clearly in today’s China-A-Go-Go, competition for elite, urban jobs is intense. You don’t want to be left behind in a rapidly stratifying society,