Testing times as China’s college candidates sit the ‘gaokao’

Beijing, Jun 7 (EFE).- A record number of nearly 12 million college candidates will be put to the test in China’s annual entrance exams, which kicked off Tuesday.

The country’s 45th National College Entrance Examination, commonly referred to as the gaokao, will take place in 330,000 centers across the country under the auspices of more than one million examiners and coordinators, China’s state newspaper, the Global Times, reported.

A total of 11.93 million aspiring students are expected to sit this year’s exams, which run until June 9, an increase of over 10.5% compared to last year.

Chinese authorities have stipulated that all candidates will be able to sit their exams this year regardless of the local Covid-19 restrictions in place.

In the capital Beijing, where 48,000 candidates are preparing for the gaokao, authorities have laid on special exam rooms for students who show signs of fever or develop a cough during the test.

However, things are more complicated in China’s largest city Shanghai, which has just emerged from a strict, two-month lockdown.

Here, the gaokao has been delayed by one month and in order to sit the exam, local candidates will have to prove that they have been in the city since June 4 and provide 5 negative PCR test results.

Established in 1977, the gaokao is a stressful occasion for millions of aspiring college students in China, especially for those vying for a space in the country’s most prestigious universities.

Given the sheer number of candidates in the world’s most populous nation, around one in four students will miss out on a place at university. EFE

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