Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Dragon: Why China Has the Best (and Worst) Education System in the World

by Yong Zhao

  Breaking the Spell

  The Chinese are extremely aware of the casualties of their exam-oriented education. More than a decade ago, the Chinese Ministry of Education (then the Chinese National Education Commission) officially denounced Chinese education:

  “Exam-oriented education” refers to the factual existence in our nation's education of the tendency to simply prepare for tests, aim for high test scores, and blindly pursue admission rates (to colleges or higher-level schools) while ignoring the real needs of the student and societal development. It pays attention to only a minority of the student population and neglects the majority; it emphasizes knowledge transmission but neglects moral, physical, aesthetic, and labor education, as well as the cultivation of applied abilities and psychological and emotional development; it relies on rote memorization and mechanical drills as the primary approach, which makes learning uninteresting, hinders students from learning actively, prevents them from taking initiatives, and heavily burdens them with excessive amount of course work; it uses test scores as the primary or only criterion to evaluate students, hurting their motivation and enthusiasm, squelching their creativity, and impeding their overall development. “Test-oriented education” violates the Education Law and Compulsory Education Law and deviates from our education policy. Henceforth, we must take all effective measures to promote “quality education” and free elementary and secondary schools from “test-oriented education.”43

  China has launched a series of reforms over the past thirty years, from massive curriculum reform to governance and financing reforms, from textbook reforms to assessment reforms, and from reforming classroom practices to changing teacher preparation. It has even begun to tinker with the untouchable gaokao and college admissions.

  Can these efforts succeed?

  Notes

  1. “Zheng Yefu: Zhongguo jiaoyu zhuding peiyang buchu nuojiang” [Zheng Yefu: Chinese education nurtures no Nobel winners], ThinkerBig, December 15, 2013, http://cul.qq.com/a/20131211/014042.htm.

  2. Y. Zheng, “Cuihui chuangzaoli de Zhongguo shehui jiqi jiaoyu” [The Chinese society and education that destroys creativity], November 15, 2012, http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_49ccddcf0101bkjw.html.

  3. Zhongguo Wang, “2012 PISA ceshi Zhejiang duo quanqiu di er” [Zhejiang snatches world no. 2 in PISA 2012], December 23, 2013, http://www.21nice.com/2013/12/1882.html.

  4. Andreas Schleicher, “What We Can Learn from Educational Reform in China,” Huffington Post, December 19, 2012, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andreas-schleicher/educational-reform-in-china_b_2327908.html.

  5. Andreas Schleicher, “Are the Chinese Cheating in PISA or Are We Cheating Ourselves?” OECD Education Today, December 10, 2013, http://oecdeducationtoday.blogspot.com/2013/12/are-chinese-cheating-in-pisa-or-are-we.html.

  6. “On China Transcript: Education,” CNN.com, December 17, 2013, http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/17/world/asia/on-china-episode-15-transcript/.

  7. Ibid.

  8. Although PISA 2009 was the first major international assessments with participation of students from Mainland China, students from other Chinese cultural circles, such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore, have had a long history of outstanding performance in international tests. In addition, students from Mainland China have shown excellent performance in smaller-scale international comparative studies since the 1980s. J. W. Stigler and J. Hiebert, The Teaching Gap: Best Ideas from the World's Teachers for Improving Education in the Classroom (New York: Free Press, 1999).

  9. Jiang Xueqin, “Opinion: The Costs of Shanghai's Education Success Story,” CNN Opinion, December 15, 2013, http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/04/opinion/china-education-jiang-xueqin/; Y. Zhao, Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization (Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2009); Y. Zhao, World Class Learners: Educating Creative and Entrepreneurial Students (Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, 2012); Zhonggong Zhongyang (Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party) and Guowuyuan (State Council), “Guanyu Shenhua Jiaoyu Tizhi Gaige Quanmian Tuijin Suzhi Jiaoyu de Jueding” [Decision to further educational systemic reform and promote quality-oriented education], 1999, http://www.chinapop.gov.cn/flfg/xgflfg/t20040326_30741.html; Zhonggong Zhongyang (Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party) and Guowuyuan (State Council), Guanyu Shenghua Jiaoyu Gaige Quanmian Tuijing Shuzhi Jiaoyu de Jueding [The decision to deepen education reform and comprehensively promote quality education], 1999, http://www.edu.cn/20011114/3009834.shtml; Zhonggong Zhongyang Bangongting (Office of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party) and Guowuyuan Bangongting (Office of the State Council), Guanyu Shiying Xinxingshi Jingyibu Jiaqiang he Gaijing Zhongxiaoxue Deyu Gongzuo de Jianyi [Suggestions for further enhancing and improving moral education in secondary and primary schools to meet the challenges of the new era] (Beijing, China: Zhonggong Zhongyang Bangongting and, Guowuyuan Bangongting, 2000).

  10. Yong Zhao, Catching Up or Leading the Way and World Class Learners.

  11. S. Guo and Q. Deng, “Beida maizhurou xiaoyou gengye jiang chuangye” [Peking University alumni turned pork seller sobs out his start up story: I have shamed my alma mater], April 12, 2013, http://news.sina.com.cn/s/2013–04–12/023926801066.shtml.

  12. “Lu Buxuan Zhurou Yingxiao Xue” [The study of pork marketing], 2011, http://news.eastday.com/eastday/news/news/node4946/node25319/userobject1ai362899.html.

  13. “Lu Buxuan jinkuang” [The recent developments of Lu Buxuan], Shengang Zaixian, October 20, 2013, http://news.szhk.com/2013/10/20/282856962308657.html.

  14. Confucius, Lun Yu [Analects of Confucius], 2012, http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/c/confucius/c748a/.

  15. “Yu 150 Wanren Boming Guokao” [Over 1.5 million sign up for civil servant exam],” Xin Jing Bao [New Beijing News], 2012, http://news.cn.yahoo.com/ypen/20121025/1384723.html.

  16. Y. Shi, “Beida Lu Buxuan: Yige siyao mianzi de jiaoyu shouhaizhe” [Lu Buxuan of Peking University: A victim of the education system with a false sense of pride], April 13, 2013, http://blog.ifeng.com/article/25870773.html.

  17. C. S. Chen, S.-Y. Lee, and H. W. Stevenson, “Academic Achieve­ment and Motivation of Chinese Students: A Cross-national Perspective,” in Growing Up the Chinese Way: Chinese Child and Adolescent Development, ed. S. Lau (Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 1996), 69–91.

  18. OECD, Strong Performers and Successful Reformers in Education: Lessons from PISA for the United States (Paris: OECD, 2011), 86.

  19. N. D. Kristof, “China's Winning Schools?” New York Times, January 15, 2011, WK10, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/16/opinion/16kristof.html?src=me&ref=general&_r=0.

  20. Sean Coughlan, “China: The World's Cleverest Country?” BBC News, May 8, 2012, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17585201.

  21. In May 1998, Chinese president Jiang Zemin announced that the central government would invest billions of dollars in Peking University and Tsinghua University to make them world-class universities, resulting in the 985 project, which expanded later to include 39 universities. The 211 is a another project started by the Chinese government in the 1990s. It aims to develop 100 leading universities in the twenty-first century. A total of 112 universities are included. In 2011, the minister of education announced that no more universities would be added to these two projects.

  22. L. Liu and W. Shi, “Jiedu jiaoyubu youguan ‘Xianding 985, 211 Gaoxiao Biyesheng Jiuye Zhaoping’ jinling” [Interpretation of the Ministry of Education's ban on “only recruiting graduates from universities in the 985 and 211 projects”], May 4, 2013, http://news.xinhuanet.com/2013–05/04/c_115635472.htm.

  23. Renming Wang, “Huhehaoteshi Shiyan Zhongxue “Huojianban” Xuesheng Tiaolou Zhuizong” [Student commits suicide at Hohhot Experimental School], 2012, http://edu.people.com.cn/n/2013/0123/c79457–20303521.html.

  24. W. Ma, “Anhui Xuexiao Kaoshi An Mingci Pai Zuowei Shifou Qishi Chasheng Ying Zhiyi” [Schools in Anhui assign seats based on test scores, practice questioned for discrimination], Zhongguang Wang [China Radio N
etwork], November 16, 2011, http://edu.ifeng.com/news/detail_2011_11/16/10695716_0.shtml?_from_ralated.

  25. S. Lin and Q. Wang, “Zhao'an Nancheng Zhongxue Yi Qishi Chasheng, Jing Paiming Kaoqiang Xuesheng Wuchang Buke” [Nancheng Middle School in Zhao'an suspected of discriminating against poor students; only top ranked offered free tutoring], November 22, 2011, http://fj.sina.com.cn/xm/news/sz/2011–11–22/085827064.html.

  26. G. Liang, “Qishi Chasheng Jiushi Peiyang Chouhen” [Discrimination against “poor” students cultivates hatred], 2011, http://opinion.people.com.cn/GB/16202580.html.

  27. D. Yang, “PISA Shanghai diyi de sikao” [Thoughts on Shanghai ranking no. 1 in PISA], December 31, 2013, http://yangdongping.blog.sohu.com/300129534.html.

  28. “China Enters ‘Testing-Free’ Zone: The New Ten Commandments of Education Reform,” blog entry by Yong Zhao, August 22, 2013, http://zhaolearning.com/2013/08/22/china-enters-%E2%80%9Ctesting-free%E2%80%9D-zone-the-new-ten-commandments-of-education-reform/.

  29. Jiang Xueqin, “Opinion: The Costs of Shanghai's Education Success Story,” CNN Opinion, December 15, 2013, http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/04/opinion/china-education-jiang-xueqin/.

  30. K.-M. Cheng, “Shanghai: How a Big City in a Developing Country Leaped to the Head of the Class,” in Surpassing Shanghai: An Agenda for American Education Built on the World's Leading Systems, ed. M. S. Tucker (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press, 2011), 34.

  31. Xueqin, “Opinion: The Costs of Shanghai's Education Success Story.”

  32. M. Tucker, ed., Surpassing Shanghai: An Agenda for American Education Built on the World's Leading Systems (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press, 2011), 174–75.

  33. “Ditch Testing (Part 4): Test Security Measures in China,” blog entry by Yong Zhao, July 17, 2011, http://zhaolearning.com/2011/07/17/ditch-testing-part-4-test-security-measures-in-china/.

  34. Malcolm Moore, “Riot after Chinese Teachers Try to Stop Pupils Cheating,” Telegraph, June 20, 2013, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/10132391/Riot-after-Chinese-teachers-try-to-stop-pupils-cheating.html.

  35. Zhao, World Class Learners.

  36. H. M. Levin, “More Than Just Test Scores,” Prospects: The Quarterly Review of Comparative Education 42 (2012): 269–84; G. Brunello and M. Schlotter, The Effect of Non Cognitive Skills and Personality Traits on Labour Market Outcomes (Munich: European Expert Network on Economics of Education, 2010).

  37. The tuition is determined based on students' exam scores from the previous year. The higher a student's scores, the lower his or her tuition.

  38. Xuan Chen, “Anhui Maotan Chang Zhongxue Cheng Gaokao Shengdi” [Anhui's Maotan Chang High School becomes the mecca of college entrance exam], China Youth, September 18, 2013, http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2013–09/18/c_125407252_2.

  39. Y. Wang, “Maotanchang Zhongxue: Yazhou zuida gaokao jiqi, tongwang tiantang de diyu” [Maotanchang High School: The biggest Gaokao factory in Asia, a hell like path to heaven], July 26, 2013, http://learning.sohu.com/20130726/n382658649.shtml.

  40. Ibid.

  41. Ibid.

  42. W. Chen, “ ‘Gaokaozhen’ shenhua” [The myth of “Gaokao Town”], June 14, 2013, http://newsweek.inewsweek.cn/magazine.php?id=6641&page=3.

  43. Guojia Jiaowei (National Education Commission), “Guanyu Dangqian Jiji Tuijin Zhongxiaoxue Shishi Shuzhi Jiaoyu de Ruogan Yijian” [Several suggestions for the promotion of quality education in secondary and elementary schools], Beijing, 1997, http://xhongcom.diy.myrice.com/page1/fagui/newpage8.htm.

  7

  The Witch That Cannot Be Killed: Educational Reforms and Setbacks

  Cai Rongsheng was arrested in November 2013 when he tried to travel to Canada via Hong Kong with a fake passport. He reportedly confessed to fraud involving hundreds of millions RMB (tens of millions in US dollars) in his role as the admissions director of Renming University of China or People's University, one of the most prestigious higher education institutions in China since 2003.1 Although the charge and amount have not been officially released, both the university and the Chinese Ministry of Education have confirmed that Cai “had been under investigation for violation of regulations and illegal conduct.”

  Cai's arrest set off a firestorm in China's media and cyberspace because it involved an issue that touches almost every Chinese life: college admissions. Generally considered the last frontier of relative fairness and justice in China, college admissions have been tightly regulated by the central government. “Everyone is equal before test scores” is a principle that has been upheld by the standardized gaokao, which dictates admission strictly according to students' scores. Thus, college admissions have gained a reputation as almost invulnerable to corruption.

  Recent educational reforms, however, are undermining that reputation. By granting universities more autonomy and discretion, reforms are introducing many more opportunities for corruption.

  The Chinese government began a grand experiment with the college admissions process in 2001 with the goal of recruiting “students with special talents and innovative potential” who might not score well in all subjects of the gaokao. The government allowed a limited number of universities to expand the pool of candidates by lifting the cap.2 Instead of selecting only from a small candidate pool imposed by a government formula, these universities are allowed to admit from a larger pool of students above the provincial cut score using their own selection criteria. The experiment started with three universities in Jangshu Province in 2001 and has since expanded to about ninety universities across China. Because these universities are prestigious and top-ranked, they have been given more autonomy and discretion in determining who may be admitted. As a result, the experimental universities are some of the most desirable institutions in China.

  Increasing an institution's autonomy and discretion makes room for all sorts of variables in addition to test scores. That was and still is the government's intention. By looking at other factors, such as evidence of special talent and creativity, the universities rely less on test scores, and tests would lose their power to determine educational results. But the problem is that other factors are more subjective than test scores, and evidence is obtained in less conventional ways, leaving room for corruption. In the case of Cai, for example, it has been reported that he took bribes for pronouncing some ordinary students “special” in order to admit them.3 After all, a place at the prestigious People's University is worth a great deal—in some cases, more than 1 million yuan RMB.

  The Cai scandal almost derailed China's grand experiment to foster a more diverse and creative workforce. The minute the news broke, the public began questioning the wisdom of the new admissions policy, and some demanded that it be abolished. The People's University did suspend the practice. In December 2013, less than a month after Cai's arrest, the Ministry of Education tightened the rules and issued new regulations.4 The ministry retracted the earlier policy that allowed certain universities to determine the number of special admissions. Universities could not admit more than 5 percent of their total enrollment using the “autonomous” approach. Other requirements included videotaping the entire interview process, making the university president responsible for the special admissions, and publicizing the results for at least ten days before students are officially admitted.

  The Disaster of Mao's Revolution against Testing

  China's efforts to free itself from the bondage of exams have been dogged by consequences even more disastrous than corruption. Like its predecessors, the Communist government never stopped working to minimize the influence of exams. One of the most drastic measures the government took was abandoning the college entrance exam entirely during the Cultural Revolution, just as the Qing emperor had done to keju in 1905.

  The Cultural Revolution, started by Mao Zedong, lasted from 1966 until 1976. That span has been generally condemned as a decade of disastrous political changes, chief among them an educational revolution that dismantled universities and imprisoned
scholars. In 1966, the central government postponed the college entrance exam and called for students to “stop classes to participate in the revolution.” All school activities were suspended, and teachers from both basic and postsecondary education institutions were sent to labor camps, rural villages, or factories to be reeducated. Those who did not comply became the targets of public criticism and humiliation by students at massive, zealously cruel gatherings. Postsecondary institutions stopped admitting new students and did not resume doing so until 1970.

  In 1970, some of the postsecondary schools reopened and began to admit new students, but exam scores were not used as criteria. Instead, students were admitted based on their background and practical experiences. The criteria were political correctness (i.e., alignment with Communist thinking), physical health, a minimum of three years of practical experience, and the equivalent of, at minimum, a middle school education. Workers, peasants, soldiers, and young cadres entered the schools, which had no age limit for those with rich experiences. Students did not have to take entrance exams. Instead, they were recommended by their community, approved by their leaders, and reviewed by the schools. Those admitted were called “worker, peasant, and soldier students.” Students with “tainted” family backgrounds—landlords, capitalists, and other “exploitive” classes—had very little chance of being selected.5

  The reason for this revolution, the damage done by exams, repeats itself in later attempts at reform. Exams have long been considered the source of all evil in China.6 Mao himself hated test scores and tests. “Testing treats students as enemies and is often launched against them in an ambush,” he wrote in 1964. “It works against the active and lively development of youth morally, intellectually, and physically.”7 Mao even cited the great American education philosopher John Dewey to support his revolution: “Opposing direct instruction was advocated by capitalist educationist as early as the May Fourth Movement (in 1919),” said Mao in a published conversation with his nephew Mao Yuanxin, an influential leader in the Cultural Revolution. “Why shouldn't we? The least we can do is not to treat students as objects of attacks.”8 The capitalist educator Mao referred to was John Dewey, who lectured at Peking University in 1919, when Mao was an assistant librarian there.