Candidates waiting to take the College Entrance Examination (file photo/Xinhua)

China’s annual National College Entrance Examination, or Gaokao, took place on June 6-7, 2017, and has generated a heated discussion among people not only in China but also all over the world. “No one has ever gotten a perfect score on the gaokao”…“China uses a drone to curb cheating on College Placement Exams”… A foreign reporter was fascinated by some of the essay questions and said, “I will be stumped on all of it, (and) I’m not sure how I’d answer that.”

In 1977, China resumed the college entrance exams. To better prepare themselves for the gaokao, many Chinese people at that time would work full time during the day and study by the kerosene lamp at night. About 5.7 million students participated in the exams in 1977, but only 5% of them got offer from the universities. Today, the total number of the students who took the gaokao has risen significantly. More than 9.4 million students took the exams this year, with the university enrollment rate jumping to 75%. China’s college entrance examination is no longer like a single-plank bridge bearing the load of millions of students’ dream, but more and more people today have the opportunity to achieve their life goal though the exams.

Before 2001, it was stipulated that only people who ware unmarried and younger than 25-year-old could take the gaokao. Later, the provision was canceled. And in 2015, an 86-year-old candidate who has always dreamed of going to university was found sitting in that year’s exam.

From 1977 to 2017, China has never stopped the adjustment on the college entrance examination. Multiple ways to improve university admissions has emerged, such as university independent recruitment, comprehensive evaluation, and etc. And yet, the end goal of the gaokao, to let more people receive a better education and have the chance for a wonderful life, has never changed.