Yesterday was the first day of China's national college entrance
exam and a record figure of almost 9 million high school graduates
were packed into exam centers around the country.
Each one of the 8.8 million students is vying for one of only
2.6 million undergraduate places at the country's universities.
Compared to last year the number sitting the exams has grown by 10
percent but the number of available university places has only gone
up by 5 percent making competition for places fiercer than
ever.
In Beijing more than 126,000 students were sitting the exam,
said Xian Lianping, vice-director of the city's education
committee. He estimated that more than 70 percent of those sitting
the exam in Beijing would secure university places thanks to
education policies which favored the capital.
But even with such good odds Beijing parents were obviously
feeling the strain.
"Both my wife and I took two days off to accompany our daughter
to the exam," said a father surnamed Ning. He sat in front of the
Affiliated School of Beijing University of Chemical Technology
waiting for his daughter who was taking the exam yesterday
afternoon.
Ning said he'd also booked a room in the nearby Huiqiao Hotel
for their daughter to rest in at noon because their home in one of
the city's northern suburbs was too far from the exam center.
To ensure students can sit the exam in peace and quiet local
governments across China urged construction sites to stop working
yesterday and today. Activities like open air Karaoke have been
strictly forbidden.
High-tech equipment has been deployed in exam rooms nationwide
to ensure there's no cheating. Electronic monitoring devices,
mobile phone detectors and shielding machines are being widely
used. More than 1,600 exam centers in Beijing have been equipped
with tele-electric monitoring systems. And supervisors can closely
scrutinize exam halls on closed-circuit television networks.
In central China's Henan Province electronic shielding machines
have been installed in all exam halls to prevent any cheating by
mobile phone use. Figures from the Ministry of Education reveal
that about 1,700 students were disqualified for cheating last year.
Before the exam got underway Vice- Minister of Education Zhao
Qinping emphasized that any student found cheating would a get a
zero mark.
Some students in east China's Fujian Province are the only teenagers to have
escaped the exam. Because of flooding following days of torrential
rain around 4, 600 students in Jian'ou have had their exams
postponed. When they'll actually sit the test will depend on the
weather, the local education bureau said last night.
In south China's Guangdong Province days of heavy rain didn't
affect 520,000 students yesterday.
However, in Dabu County of the city of Meizhou 620 students from
areas affected by the weather were relocated to urban areas for the
exam.
Two students in the provincial capital of Guangzhou were
diagnosed with chicken pox during yesterday's exam and were
transferred to a separate room to continue the test.
In Harbin, provincial capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, a father and son
received a lot of attention as they walked into the exam room side
by side. As the eldest examinee in the province, 46-year-old Meng
Fanlian, said he was excited to be sitting the exam at the same
time as his 18-year-old son.
"It's my first time taking the exam," he said. "I'll try my
best." He said his favorite subject was English and he got up early
every morning to read the language with his son who's just
graduated from the city's No 9 Middle School. "I want to compete
with my son to see who can perform best in the exam," he said.
"It's encouraging for him."
(China Daily June 8, 2006)
