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China is overhauling its national college entrance exam, the gaokao, with plans to be finished by 2020, the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, and Sixth Tone, a state-funded English-language media outlet, reported.
Minister of Education Chen Baosheng announced the changes to the exam at China’s 19th Party Congress Thursday. The changes, which aim to make the gaokao fairer and more accessible, give students more chances to take the high-stakes exam -- which traditionally has been offered only once, at the end of a student's third year of high school -- and greater selection in subjects.
Sixth Tone reported that the changes to the gaokao have generated debate, with some students and parents complaining about the pressure that comes with taking tests earlier and more often. Under the changes, students can begin taking sections of the college entrance exam starting in their second year of high school.
