Chinese students face ‘world’s toughest’ test, first after online classes end | World news

Millions of Chinese students sat for tough college entrance exams on Wednesday, the first since the country lifted zero-Covid laws that forced online classes for month at the end.

China’s education ministry says nearly 13 million students, a record, have registered to take the “gaokao” exams – billed by state media as the “world’s toughest” – this year.

“I have woken up at 4 a.m. every day, except Sundays, to study for the past four years,” Jesse Rao, a 17-year-old high school student in Shenzhen, told AFP.

“I did everything I could, but I still feel a bit nervous.”

In Beijing, anxious parents gather around exam halls as their children kneel, many wearing red for good luck.

Zhang Jing, a mother in her forties, compares herself to Bai Suzhen, a character in Chinese mythology who is locked in a tower until her son takes an important test.

“My son is very relaxed, I think I am more nervous than him,” Zhang, wearing a red qipao, a traditional Chinese dress, told AFP.

“I have followed my son and taught him from the first grade of elementary school to the first year of high school,” he explained.

Another mother, Fang Hong, told AFP that she had prepared a simple breakfast of bread and eggs for her son.

“My son is a little nervous, I told him that we can accept any result of the gaokao and that we do not put any pressure on him,” he said.

– ‘I struggle’ –

Testing high school students on their Chinese, English, mathematics and other sciences or humanities subjects of their choice, the tests are essential to landing coveted places in universities of China.

Many parents spend hundreds of dollars a month on private schools or hire private tutors to sit with their children while they study late into the night.

The tests are notorious for testing the ability to compose essays in response to oblique prompts, with sample questions published Wednesday by the People’s Daily newspaper requiring students to consider the impact of technology on time management. and the role of a good story.

Another sample question asks them to implement two aphorisms by President Xi Jinping, adding that they will mark in part whether they write from the “right angle”.

Adding to the stress, this year’s test takers have spent most of their high school years under pandemic restrictions, which ended abruptly in December.

“I struggled to keep up with online courses last year,” Katherina Wang, a university student from Shanghai who has been through two lockdowns in the past two years, told AFP.

“Our teachers do extra classes in the evenings and on weekends.”

The high stakes have led to informational efforts in the election.

Many districts this year have installed scanners with facial recognition capabilities to ensure that candidates do not hire agents to take the test for them, the state-run Global Times reports.

– ‘I’ll try again’ –

Exams can last up to four days, depending on the region, taking between one hour and 150 minutes per subject.

The maximum score is 750, with more than 600 needed for a place in top-tier universities – for years a ticket to personal and professional success in China.

Very few make the cut. Last year, only three percent of those who took the test in Guangdong, China’s most populous province, scored more than 600.

And for students with more moderate expectations, scores also play an important role in securing places in universities and which subjects can be taken.

For those who don’t get the results they need, there’s always next year. By 2021, 17 percent of students nationwide will receive their gaokao.

“If I don’t get the results I want, I will try again,” Benjamin Zhu, a high school senior from Guangzhou, told AFP.