Editor’s note: Every year, the competition to gain entry into China’s universities gets more and more difficult as an increasing number of students compete for a limited number of spaces; particularly in China’s best schools.

To get the results necessary to get into the schools Chinese children must study and study and study. A school in Hebei has figured out a recipe for success in churning out an impressive alma mater that consistently performs well on the Gaokao, the admission test for universities in China. As this Chinese translated story tells us, this school is able to achieve such results by exacting a heavy demand upon its students. Every moment in their day is accounted for – right down to the minute. While there is much to argue with this method – including style of learning, developing children’s social/life skills – you can’t argue with their performance on the Gaokao and their enrollments into universities.

This year 104 students from Hengshui Middle School in Hebei Province were enrolled in Tsinghua University, resulting in the middle school being called the best “Super Gaokao factory” in the country. This reporter paid a visit to the “god-like” middle schools in order to unravel the mystery of their educational process.

A “god-like” school

The GDP of Hengshui fluctuates year-round but has one of Hebei’s lowest. It is the reputation of Hengshui Middle School’s that gives it its name, “famous education city”. Not only did Hengshui Middle School succeed in providing the province’s top scorer in liberal arts and science, but it also provided 20% of the province’s students who scored 600 points in the field of liberal arts. This phenomenon is best reflected in the school’s “path of genius,” a wall made of the portraits of the 104 students who were admitted into Tsinghua in 2013 running from the street entrance all the way to the entrance of the school. With these 104 students, Hengshui solidified its reputation as a legendary “god-level” school and unsurprisingly it enrollment rate is at 80%.

Source: ToGa Wanderings

Work and rest of students is accurately measured down to the minute

The school has implemented a company-style “all-inclusive management with no oversights”; this process of management is similar to that of a factory: the day begins at 05:30 and ends every day at 22:10, at which time “work” is halted. Every single minute in-between is meticulously accounted for by the management.

A course timetable for the school was recently leaked onto the internet and it shows just how dense and compact life of a Hengshui student is. From the moment they wake up in the morning until the moment they sleep at night their lives are regimented, and not a single minute of free time is allocated. Grades, morality and conduct, and hygiene requirements are all factored into this “quantitative management.” These regulations are so specific that they detail whether or not a student is able to “bring a tangerine into their dorm room, or if they are able to wear shorts to bed.” In regards to how to handle the problem of childhood romance, the regulations for Hengshui Middle School are very clear: if any students engage in frequent “abnormal contact,” grades for their “morality and conduct” courses will be deducted with discretion.

“Hengshui Middle School’s educational process has two parts: closed management with a quantitative assessment,” said Li Jinchi, the former principal. Li went on to say that having a rigid, closed management style provides an innocent environment for studying and the quantitative assessments are indispensable in enlisting the enthusiasm of teachers.

Competition is present in every facet of education

A day at Hengshui Middle School begins with singing the school mantra on the athletic grounds with a fervor that shakes the heavens. And this is because the volume of each class factors into their assessment scores. While they are standing on the athletic field, each student is holding a book and is memorizing it. When they go for lunch every student is competing to be the first in line at the cafeteria. At Hengshui every second counts.

“What have I come to Hengshui to accomplish? What kind of person will I become? How will I perform today?” These three questions are the “moral commandments” of every student and are always in the forefront of their minds. While a slogan that rouses inspiration can be seen as a part of every grade and school throughout the country, Hengshui has formulas of every kind and variety plastered all over its staircases. Enthusiasm and competition has permeated every part of every facet of the school.

Li Jinchi will often tell the children, “Amongst you, there must be more people like Wu Yi, vice-chairman of the PRC State Council; there must be more people like famous writer Lu Xun.” He says these slogans are all about promoting “passionate education.” Every morning Li, the teachers and the 5000 students enrolled at the school, walk onto the athletic field and cry out the slogans together.

Both students and teachers have concerns

A student named Zhang Yu, enrolled at the school in 2007, recalls infractions such as daydreaming, eating junk food, and ripping paper being recorded and negatively impacting their quantitative assessment. One night when Zhang had to urgently go to the bathroom, she was recorded by school personnel; the next day, a report criticizing her actions was published upon the blackboard and a mark was taken off the quantitative assessment of her grades.

“The essence of Hengshui Middle School is excessive education,” said a retired former leader of the school, and this “excessive education” does produce results. At present countless schools take Hengshui Middle School to be the criterion by which the success of having students move on higher avenues of learning is judged.

However, for Li Juan, a teacher who has been with the school for a number of years, this is a worrying prospect. Li said that according to the quantitative management of Hengshui Middle School, academic achievements, discipline, and dormitory living and hygiene conditions will all influence a student’s assessment; furthermore, the performance evaluation of a class teacher and course teacher are based on the assessments of their students. This results in teachers having to work as hard as they possibly can. The attitude of teachers will ultimately influence their students and the stress for students to do well on the assessment is intensified by teachers who also need to do well. Li Juan asked, “Whose youth can be quantified?”

Source: QQ

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Keywords: gaokao China Hengshui middle school super gaokao factory