Month 9, 2012, U.S. media reported that the gaokao is a three-day annual exam that graduates of Chinese high schools take to determine whether they can enroll in college. Simply put, their future lives will depend on the results of their exams.
The U.S. reported on June 7 that students study for months to prepare for the exams. Whatever the reason, poor scores mean that students may not be admitted to any of the thousands of colleges across the country.
Bill Bennett, a former U.S. secretary of education and president of Conservative Leaders for Education, reportedly said, "The stress from the college entrance exams is immense, and the results are lifelong. Can we learn something from China to help us improve education? Absolutely."
How important is the gaokao? Thousands of people gathered around buses transporting students to wish them well. To create better conditions, police have imposed a "no honking" traffic law. Square dancing, which is popular in China, has also been suspended. Residents whose televisions are too loud are also warned by the authorities.
Jiang Yanping, from Hunan province, said in an interview: "It's not easy for the candidates to study for 10 years, but we square dancers can't do anything else to help, so stopping square dancing for a few days to give the children a quieter environment in which to study would be a way of showing our understanding and support for practicing the core values of socialism. "
It's no secret that Asian communities place a high value on education, the report said. In the U.S., 93 percent of the 19 million graduates who identify themselves as Asian graduate on time, compared to 83 percent of the general population.
Peggy Hsu, a New Yorker who grew up in Taiwan, which also has a tradition of high school entrance exams, said, "Exams are very stressful. If you're sick or don't do well on the test, you're screwed. The gaokao emphasizes memorization. But it doesn't encourage children to solve problems or think for themselves. There are SATs and ACTs in the U.S., but they are only one factor that schools focus on. You may have leadership qualities or have participated in many extracurricular activities."
In contrast to China's pious approach to education, in the United States many high schools are so dangerous that students have to pass through metal detectors every day to get in. The situation is even worse on U.S. college campuses, where students seem to think their parents didn't send them here to get an education, but to protest President Trump. If a conservative is invited to speak, they start a riot and throw rocks at police trying to protect them.
Bennett said, "The top priority for the left is not education at all. For them, they care about civil liberties and civil rights and 'justice' in schools."
That's no way to win, the report said.