Studying seven days a week, the students’ lives are regimented almost every minute of the day as they prepare for the end-of-year exam that can determine their fate. For many students from poor or rural backgrounds, a strong performance on the test is the only way to climb the social ladder and excel without connections. Competition is fierce and the majority of high school seniors will be relegated to vocational schools.
]]> http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/episodes/china-prep/video-full-episode/2722/feed/ 52 http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/episodes/china-prep/the-gaokao-how-would-you-fare/2264/ http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/episodes/china-prep/the-gaokao-how-would-you-fare/2264/#comments Wed, 13 Aug 2008 13:57:45 +0000 wayne taylor http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/?p=2264 The gaokao or “tall test” is China’s national college entrance exam. Try these sample questions to test how you would fare on the exam.

As the world’s attention turns to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, WIDE ANGLE reports on how the next generation of Chinese leaders is being molded.

China Prep follows five Chinese students through their final high-pressure year at an elite high school in Sichuan Province. Eighteen hundred students vie for spots in Beijing’s top two universities. Last year only 59 made it.

Studying seven days a week, the students’ lives are regimented almost every minute of the day as they prepare for the end-of-year exam that can determine their fate. For many students from poor or rural backgrounds, a strong performance on the test is the only way to climb the social ladder and excel without connections. Competition is fierce and the majority of high school seniors will be relegated to vocational schools.

We meet Zhang Lie, who wants to study law and become a Communist Party member like her father; Mei Jiachin, a genius mathematician from a farming family; Chen Zhibo, a misfit science student with big plans to become China’s Bill Gates; and Gao Mengjia, a dedicated student who loves money and aspires to be a hedge fund manager.

Nicknamed the “I want” generation by the Chinese press, these only children – the sole focus of their parents’ and grandparents’ nurturing under China’s one-child policy – will be the new class of corporate managers, lawyers, and civil servants who are expected to propel 21st century China to surpass the United States as the largest economy in the world.

How do the ambitions of these teenagers reflect the realities of today and tomorrow’s China? Who among them will be most likely to succeed – the daughter of the Party official or the farmer’s son? Who will be the boss?

All over China, traffic will be re-routed away from test centers and construction sites will silence their commotion. In Guangxi, the Olympic Torch Relay has abbreviated its relay route and toned down the pomp and circumstance of the event.

Chinese society places careful consideration on these two days. Parents and grandparents scurry to temples to pray for students’ good fortune. The Ministry of Education (MOE) even issued a national health warning on impaired student eyesight.

But there is one activity that will not be tolerated: cheating.

Stories of cheating surface every year: students pay for leaked exams, pay others to take the exams, or sneak cell phones and electronic dictionaries into test centers.

According to the MOE, students caught cheating may be disqualified from next year’s registration. Those students taking the exam for others may be expelled.

More than 11 million students are registered with the MOE to take the exam. However, the exam will qualify only about 6 million students for university. Test results are available online on June 28.

WIDE ANGLE’s film follows four Chinese students through their final, high-pressure year, which culminates with the gaokao. “China Prep” premieres on August 12. Check your local listings for airtimes, and check back here for updates.