Editor's note: This article was translated and edited from an article that appeared in the Caixun financial news service. It concerns the annual Chinese college entrance exams, popularly known as the "gaokao", and the growing financial burden it places on families. The article emphasises that rising costs aren't just the result of a changing economy; passing the gaokao is becoming more and more crucial to the future of Chinese young people and the emotional security of their parents.
June 7 marks the first day of the annual Chinese college entrance exam, and the test, commonly known as the "gaokao," is once again a hot topic of conversation. Recently, an infographic titled "Shifting costs of the gaokao" has attracted a great deal of attention. As this infographic shows, since the return of the gaokao in 1977, the total cost of one student's participation in the exam has risen to 80,000 times its former value in just over 30 years. Although rising price of goods is part of the story, the difference between half a Yuan then and hundreds of thousands of Yuan now reflects more than just economic change; it's also a testament to the changing attitudes of Chinese people towards the examination itself.
2012: 100,000 Yuan for the gaokao
It's 6:30am in a small two-bedroom apartment in the Xicheng District of Beijing, and Liu Fenlan has already been busy in the kitchen for a half an hour. She pauses to gently shake her son awake, who takes a hasty shower before burying his head in his meal. Today's breakfast is a full one: one bottle of milk, one small bowl of mixed-grain porridge, two steaming meat buns, four shelled quail eggs, and one kiwi, lovingly sliced and ready to eat. Her son cleans his plate like a gust of wind, shoulders his backpack, mumbles a quick goodbye to his mother and races out the door, to a prestigious high school only 200 meters away.
Since renting this apartment nearby to her son's school, every day of Liu's life has started like this one. Following her son's final preparations for the exam, the whole family has gone into economic "sprint" mode, and this is not what you might call a wealthy family. For this final stretch, Liu's family has been preparing both mentally and materially for many years: "Not counting rent on the apartment, we've spent 40,000 Yuan already. One year's rent is 60,000, which is mostly because it's so close to the school, and for a kid studying for the gaokao, that extra half-hour of sleep really makes a difference. Living anywhere around here isn't cheap; you can't get a 60 square foot two-bedroom for less than 5,000 a month; but you just can't cut corners when it comes to your child's education."
At present, Liu is mainly responsible for preparing her son's three square meals a day: they must be good, nutritious and not too greasy. "Now they have people that deliver meals specifically for gaokao students, one meal is 100-200 Yuan, not very economical, so I found some ‘gaokao' recipes online, picking them up as I go. Meat and vegetables are both very expensive now. I spend over 3,000 a month on food for the whole family; before this, just 1,000 was enough."
Total cost of gaokao preparation in 2012:
The grand total: more than 100,000 Yuan.
1990: 280 Yuan for the gaokao
At a home on Gucheng North Road in Shijingshan District, 70-year-old Li Xiuzhen remembers what it was like preparing for her daughter's college entrance exam 22 years ago.
"Back then, parents didn't worry very much about their children's education. Teachers were already so strict, they didn't tend to pass on any extra duties to parents," said Li, adding after some consideration that food was the main source of spending: "At first she would just eat lunch at the school canteen, but she always complained about the food, so finally in the last semester I went ahead and cancelled her meal plan. So every morning I'd make her lunches, put them in a cooler and let her take it to school. It was all just simple stuff: eggs and tomatoes and things like that, probably not more than 1 Yuan to make one meal."
Li also remembers when she raised her daughter's allowance from 5 Yuan to 15 Yuan, "mostly because the weather was so hot; I wanted her to buy some drinks and popsicles."
According to Li's recollection, she didn't have to spend any money at all on textbooks or review materials for her daughter.
One big expense was during the three days of the test itself: "We lived pretty close to the testing center; other kids lived far away and couldn't go back to eat lunch, so my daughter wanted to bring some friends back to our place to eat lunch and take a break." Li took those three days off work just to prepare huge meals of meat and fish for her daughter and her friends, spending 90 Yuan in 3 days.
Her daughter was eventually accepted to a prestigious university. "We didn't celebrate much, none of that buying alcohol for the teacher business they do now. We spent 50 Yuan on a new bicycle for her and called it a reward."
Total cost of gaokao preparation in 1990:
The grand total: 280 Yuan.
In comparison, special preparations for the gaokao in the 1970's amounted to a little book of practice questions and a bowl of mung bean soup: Total cost: 0.50 Yuan.
Financial costs aren't the only thing on the rise
From 280 Yuan in 1990 to over 100,000 Yuan in 2012, costs of preparing for the gaokao has risen by a factor of 300 in just 22 years. A changing economy is, of course, part of the explanation for the numeric discrepancy, but it's not the only way to interpret the change. As Liu Fenlan told reporters, the 100,000 Yuan her family spent on gaokao preparations represents the combined income of both parents for one whole year. "If neither of us ate anything for one year, the money we save would be exactly how much we spent on the gaokao." Meanwhile, Li Xiuzhen's 280 Yuan represented just one month of her salary in 1990. From one person's monthly salary to two people's combined yearly salary, the rising price of the gaokao is testing the limits of the average Chinese family's financial endurance.
Gaokao admission rates are on the rise as well. As reports indicate, only around 20% of applicants passed the gaokao during the 1990's, but starting in 1999 official college admissions expansion policies made sure university students were no longer a rarity, and today gaokao admissions rates are up to 80%. College seems to be getting easier to get into. So why, then, is the mental and financial burden of the gaokao getting so much worse?
"That year we never counted on our daughter getting into college. The admission rate was low, so if she didn't make it she would have other options. We knew as long as she worked hard she would be able to take care of herself," Li Xiuzhen told reporters.
Such a cool demeanor has all but vanished among today's parents: "It used to be the whole country would bottleneck over just a few spots, but now so many people go to college that even college graduates have trouble getting jobs, and heaven help the ones who don't even get into college," says Liu Fenlan, whose worries seem to be symptoms of a quickly spreading national epidemic.
Chinese parents' hopes for their only children passing the gaokao, and their worries for their future in an increasingly hostile job market, together fuel their seemingly limitless financial investments in gaokao preparation. As the gaokao becomes an ever-intensifying arms race, it seems only constant spending can give parents any peace of mind. As to how much greater the cost of the gaokao can continue to climb, only time will tell.
Source: Caixun
Related links
A Chinese Teacher's Perspective: China and the U.S. Education Systems Compared
Quantitative in the Extreme – China's Gaokao Test
An Education: How China's System Differs from the West's
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Keywords: Chinese college admissions cost of gaokao cost of education China college entrance exam cost China
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In addition to all has been printed, don't forget the expectations of the parents. They remember how hard the test was, the stress, the moments of (almost) pure insanity. In their own way preparing their children for the same issues, but in turn putting increasing pressure on the next generation. Also factoring in the economic circumstances over the past 30 years, a good paying job is no longer guaranteed.
To have the typical dream of: great job-marriage-home-family is still within reach. But I think the realization of those all being acquired just within the Chinese border are foolish. Even the American dream as been deemed 'dead'. The Chinese government should promote abroad job searching, help broaden the education of their generation and later bring back ideas and skills that help unite all countries under one common goal.
I know it seems a bit 'hippy' but American realized this back in the 90's, and I can only assume the Europeans are on the same kick.
Jun 13, 2012 19:08 Report Abuse
This article doesn't look at the cost of the exam itself or the cost for the state to put the exam on. The cost figures are apparently created by just making an arbitrary list of things that a student would need for the Gaokao, without even checking to see if this is what the typical Gaokao student gets!
I should also note that inflation is not taken into account, but that's beside the point.
A very useless and misleading article...
Jun 13, 2012 16:39 Report Abuse
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