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‘Bright futures’ of China’s gaokao stars casts doubt on true value of local education
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IN a heart-wrenching farewell message, a long-suffering student recounted the torturous upbringing that ultimately drove him to take his own life.
“I will be abused if I got 98 points, would get a slap for a hiccup, for picking up food with chopsticks the wrong way ... I cannot feel any affection for my parents, and do not feel any reluctance at leaving them. Incinerate my remains, or dump it. Do not bring me back ...”
The student who wrote these words committed suicide on June 10, soon after taking his college entrance examination (gaokao).
The message was heart-breaking, but for many in the public at large, the tragedy of a single family was soon overshadowed by events with more far-reaching consequences.
In quick succession, the attention quickly shifted toward news like Britain’s decision to leave the European Union. So when a colleague shared the above-mentioned suicide note on his WeChat “moments,” he received zero responses.
What’s more, with the gaokao results just published, the sentiment now is one of excitement for most students and families.
Although most test-takers still don’t know if they have been accepted to the school of their choice, a few star candidates are already being lauded as heroes — and courted by several top universities.
There are luminaries at the provincial, municipal, county and regional level.
In Ziyang, Sichuan Province, on the afternoon of June 23, at the entrance of a local kindergarten, five kindergarten students were made to hold posters which together read, “Warmly congratulate the darling son of the kindergarten chief for scoring 630 points in gaokao, which is 98 points in excess of the cutoff marks for key universities.”
It’s natural that so much attention is being directed toward more successful candidates, despite the ban on leaking information about zhuangyuan (an ancient name for the students who came first in gaokao). And every year, people talk of the academic darlings that leading universities fight to attract.
For instance, the highest scorers at Hebei Province are both from Hengshui Middle School.
Representatives from Beijing University (Beida) and Qinghua University made overnight visits to the two students, and carried their respective trophies to their campuses in Beijing on the night of June 22, the day scores were revealed.
Yes, there were murmurs that Beida and Qinghua, as leading universities, should exemplify the highest education principles they openly espouse. Instead of being so choosy about their students, they should demonstrate how a good education can be transformative.
For all the prestige these universities have inherited, when it comes to recruitment, the competition is cut throat.
As only top students seem to substantiate the fame of these universities, the battle for recruitment seems to be one that none of them can afford to lose, and any strategy and tactics can be justified by the recruitment success.
But in the afore-mentioned battle the biggest winner is probably Hengshui Middle School in Hebei Province, the school that in 2015 had been the No.1 for 16 years in a row in terms of its gaokao results in Hebei. The new zhuangyuans undoubtedly add to the fame of this spectacular gaokao mill that knows how to churn out good test-takers. Such mills usually exist in underdeveloped provinces where gaokao is critical and extremely competitive.
The ultimate good
Would it be pedantic to wonder whether, in sparing no expense to court top students, these universities (financed by taxpayers) are persuaded that higher scores can translate into greater benefit for the Chinese people?
The younger generation is often suckled on the raw market credo. They have faith in success, and little else.
Predictably, when asked about their aspirations, one of the aforementioned zhuangyuans from Hebei expressed his desire to enter a program at Beijing University’s Guanghua School of Management. Few will be surprised at how the corporate cult has already won the hearts and minds of our youth.
In time, this young man will likely earn one or several degrees in economics-related discipline, and then use his talent in service of a Global Fortune 500 company. He’ll probably earn an attractive salary, own a big flat, and achieve the respectability that is expected of him.
If his predecessors (at Beida or Qinghua) are any guide, the odds are favorable that he might go abroad for further studies in finance, and his training will enable him to better serve the portfolios of his high net-worth clients.
As a Chinese, he would be of particularly value in advising investment bankers how to share the prosperity of emerging markets.
A few years ago, Zheng Qiang, dean of Guizhou University, accused some Beida and Qinghua students of being “renegades,” in that “they were using their knowledge to help foreign companies gain advantages over their Chinese competitors.”
That’s probably an unfair accusation against only those top students, as education the world over has been more or less corrupted from something edifying and inspirational into something mundanely professional.
It is high time that our educators reviewed the education principles Confucius once articulated: to enlighten the people, to achieve the ultimate good, and to help achieve national or universal governance.
If we scrutinize our more successful test-takers in reference to these metrics, we might be surprised at how spectacularly education has failed.
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