Beijing bans promotion of university exam top scorers

China has officially banned state media from promoting top scorers in the upcoming National Higher Education Entrance Examination, known as the Gaokao, less than a month before more than nine million students take part in the high-profile event nationwide.

The announcement came after a top-level conference hosted by the Ministry of Education on 8 May, to ensure utmost security for the test-taking and enrolment processes of the exam.

“It is strictly prohibited to give publicity to Gaokao top scorers and enrolment rates,” says Education Minister Chen Baosheng in an official directive posted on the ministry’s website last Tuesday. “Those who do so anyway will be dealt with sternly and accordingly.”

In recent years, Chinese state media has given undue attention to the number one scorers in each province, either in the arts or science major, often showering the young students, also dubbed ‘Zhuangyuans’, with lavish praise, but this also highlights education disparities in the country as top scorers are often from elite institutions, urban areas and the richer provinces.

Last year, a student from Shaanxi in China’s north was idolised by local media, after having earned the highest score in arts, for being “the best looking Gaokao master in history”, in reference to his non-geeky appearance.

Star treatment of a select few has been controversial because in China a quota system regulates and determines the allocation of university admission places to each province and municipality. Under the system, universities can only take in a fixed number of students from each province, while bigger quotas are given to those from local areas where the universities are based.

This means students from rural or migrant backgrounds are often barred from sitting the exam in bigger cities where they live, and are underrepresented in China’s elite institutions.

“Family background significantly affects one’s access to high-quality tertiary education,” Wu Xiaogang, sociology professor at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, told Chinese media after research he conducted found that 80% of students at top Beijing universities had graduated from elite high schools.

Rampant disparities

It was such disparities that prompted policy-makers to expand quotas for those from provinces with insufficient resources in 2016, but the plan set off protests from angry parents who said it would come at the expense of others.

Now the ban on Zhuangyuan promotion is also expected to help address the gap, according to Gao Jianmin, spokesperson for Beijing 101 Middle School, a ‘beacon’ high school in Beijing with notable alumni including the Chinese president.

“Unhealthy competition still exists between schools for admission numbers, especially for elite universities,” he told University World News. “Adding to the idolisation of top scorers is the idolisation of the numbers of students making it into Peking University and Tsinghua University, China’s top two,” he said.

The move by the ministry is echoing a nationwide drive to use President Xi Jinping’s socialist thought with Chinese characteristics, which promotes education equality, as a guide for the exam work this year, according to this month’s announcement.

“This is certainly good news,” says Gao. “I think the ban will be conductive to a more stable order in the education system, and serves as a solid measure correcting a culture that overemphasises grades and test-taking,” he said.

The annual exam, which this year takes place on 7-8 June, is often considered the most important moment and a life-changing opportunity for Chinese students. However, the exam system has been the focus of criticism in recent years as competition for the country’s top institutions is ferocious, subjecting students to overwhelming pressure.

The announcement will divert public attention away from that and more towards “individual growth and experiences of students”, Gao said.

The announcement was met with mixed reactions among students at the final stages of Gaokao preparation. While some support the move saying it would help address widening disparities, others have responded with doubt and sarcasm.

“I don’t think it’s going to affect me at all,” Gao Bo, a high school senior from Anhui in central China told University World News. “After all, Zhuangyuans are such a small bunch!”

On Chinese social media platform Weibo, some said it would prove discouraging to students if high achievers would no longer receive publicity. “What is the use for me to try to become one of the top scorers now?” says one netizen.