Chinese High School Life and College Entrance Exams-“Exemplary Schools” or “Concentration Camps”

Hello. I happened to see a video in English on YouTube that says that all of my high school life in China is spent on college entrance exams, so I will write an article based on the information in the comments section.

Taking Hengshui Studies (Hebei Province) as an example-is it a “model school” or a “concentration camp”?

First, I will quote an article from the Japanese media.

As competition intensifies, some high schools specialize in achieving good results in unified exams. Hengshui Gaku (High School) in Hengshui City, Hebei Province, is called “Koko Factory,” “Examination Training Center,” “Demon’s Forced Camp,” etc. .. There are almost no holidays in my third year of high school. The daily schedule is every second, and it is said that there is no walking because it is too busy. It is said that the students are always running even when traveling within the school. There are several surveillance cameras installed in the classroom, and all students are under the supervision of the school.

Quote (Japanese):

中国の過酷な受験戦争を勝ち抜いた若者が「寝そべり族」になってしまう理由

中国の若者たちの間で、過酷な競争社会を生き抜くことを諦め、最低限の生活を送ることを志す「寝そべり主義」が流行している。中国では格差が拡大し、厳しい受験戦争に打ち勝ったとしても、就職や都会での生活に苦戦する人が少なくない。若者たちの間で広がる静かな抵抗と、その裏側にある厳しい競争社会について見ていこう。

diamond.jp

Forced financial burden and study at the high school entrance exam stage

However, it is very difficult to enter this school. A good grade at this school, the entrance exam to enter Hengshui, will save you a lot of money and money, but if you don’t or come from another area (such as Beijing), it’s an exorbitant fee. Must be paid. It’s just like the mechanism of university entrance examinations conducted by some private universities in Japan, but the structure is completely different. In the case of Japan, low-level private universities will create a special student system in order to turn excellent students into students, and will be able to enroll at a low price. For example, because I passed as a scholarship student, the one-year tuition fee of about 5,000 euros was free. However, there is such a system in private universities where there are many students who can afford but have no academic ability, and it is not a national university where excellent students attend. I wrote this, but I am not dissatisfied with this system. However, it must be said that the private university that I attended by the time I passed the Italian university was terrible in another sense.

Let’s return to Hengshui studies. Tuition fees such as ronin are 25,000 yuan a year, which is equivalent to 3,000 euros, which is very high considering that the average monthly income in China is 8,000 euros.

Boring and heart-wrenching school life with no romance, no friendship, no leisure time

Hengshui Studies was founded in 1951. The number of students is about 10,000. This is because it accepts students outside of Ronin and Hebei. However, students do not have time to know each other, love, self-analyze, or dream, and whether they are awake or sleeping, they only think about their studies and career paths. Is forced to. It is so educated by adults, and some call it “brainwashing.” There is no doubt that such a life will look boring to us accustomed to a life that respects European freedom and work-life balance (the balance between work and life). In fact, many students (of course there are no official statistics) are sick and depressed or anxious. And some students may drop out or commit suicide. However, these things are rarely mentioned because of teachers who find no value other than studying, and problems such as the mental health of students are never revealed, and only the bereaved family feels painful. It is.

A day of Hengshui studies

Here, I would like to introduce a typical day of Hengshui science.

5:30 am-Get up, get dressed
5:45 am-Running Exercise
6am-reading in the morning
6:30 am-Breakfast
7:10 am-Morning learning
7:45 am to 8:25 am-First morning class (40 minutes each)
8:40 am to 9:20 am-2nd class
9:35 am to 10:15 am-3rd class
10:30 am to 11:00 am-4th class
11:15 am to 11:55 am-5th class
12: 00-lunch
From 12:45 pm to 1:45 pm-Nap
2:05 pm to 2:45 pm-First afternoon class (40 minutes each)
2:55 pm to 3:35 pm-2nd class
3:45 pm to 4:25 pm-3rd class
4:35 pm to 5:15 pm-4th class
5:25 pm to 6:05 pm-5th class
6:15 pm-Supper
6:50 pm to 7:10 pm-View news broadcasts
7:15 pm-8 pm-First night class (50 minutes each)
8:10 pm-8: 55 pm-2nd class
9:05 pm-9: 50 pm-3rd class
9:50 pm to 10:10 pm-dressing
10:10 pm-Turn off, go to bed.

Here, I would like to introduce a typical day of Hengshui science. As mentioned above, there is no time to rest, and even a nap is to improve study efficiency. The time to watch the news is also used to understand the world and improve the score of the entrance examination. Of course, sleepless students can’t sleep immediately if they are turned off at 10:10, but they still have to wake up at 5:30 in the morning. And even if you’re feeling sick for physical and mental reasons, running in an army-like manner is a must, and penalties are in place for the entire team if they fall or fall behind. Therefore, sensitive students understand that falling is a shame and a sin, and of course no one is allowed to complain. Therefore, running is not a time to relax, but a time to train and build enough strength to overcome the exam. There isn’t even “free time” because time is always allocated to every action. In recent years, meditation and writing a diary have been emphasized in order to improve mental health, and it is said that writing a diary can also be used for grief, but of course there is no such time. Time to listen to music and time to talk to family are all taken away.

“The only hope” left behind in fierce competition

Life like this would be unacceptable to many Europeans, reminiscent of Auschwitz concentration camps. No one is deprived of their freedom and can talk to them about their worries, and they are simply corrected to the way society demands (whether it is the extinction of Jews or passing to a well-known and excellent university). It is a thing. But this harsh test-taking war in China is the only hope left for them. This college entrance exam is your chance to go to a good college, get a job at a good company, and get a better salary and a better life with your family, and if you can win that college entrance exam, a better life awaits you. It is. The fact that the way to get a better profession is open not only to some blessed royalty but also to the general public is historical, as can be seen from the entrance examination mobile phone such as the Chinese Imperial Examination. It is a fact.