Today is a very important day for Chinese students: 高考 (gāokǎo) begins.
Gaokao is also known as the National College Entrance Examination and it is a standardised test in China that high school students take to determine their eligibility for admission into universities.
It is typically held once a year and it plays a significant role in determining a student’s future academic and career prospects, as they directly impact their chances of getting into prestigious universities and pursuing desired fields of study.
This is why, during Gaokao, vehicles are not allowed to honk (otherwise they would disturb the students).
The exam is highly competitive and carries immense pressure for students.
I have never heard of Gaokao, but I can imagine how stressful it is for Chinese students. This is similar to Viet Nam; our students will need to take a national high school exam to determine whether they can graduate high school and use that score to apply for universities. The higher the score, the more chances students have of getting acceptance from top-notch universities. But here, it is not as strict as in China, I guess.
I heard South Korea is the same and planes are not allowed to take off for a couple of hours to avoid noise. Feel free to correct me, though, in case I’m wrong.
Where I’m from (Germany) every federal state has their own syllabus and therefor, consitutes their own A-level exams. As much pressure as the Chinese kids have, it’s way fairer for everyone if every kid has to write the same test at the same time nationwide. I actually didn’t notice it was Gaokao last week hadn’t my former 阿姨 told me her daughter was taking it.
