Hype Over Zhuangyuan

The results from this years college entrance examination (gaokao) are being revealed, and the top scorers of the exam, commonly called “zhuangyuan,”are once again becoming the focus of attention in the media and society. In recent years, media hype over gaokao zhuangyuan is becoming increasingly dramatic, as champion students are awarded money by local education authorities or the colleges that recruit them. Although the Education Ministry forbids media publicity of zhuangyuan, the trend continues. The public holds that excessive media treatment over gaokao zhuangyuan will have a negative impact on their future. Thus, society should treat these students in a common way, since the college entrance exam is only the beginning of their accomplishments. The following are excerpts of some opinions:

Wang Xuming(www.xinhuanet.com): Despite Education Ministrys bans on the hype over gaokao zhuangyuan and local education departments explicit policies not to reveal test scores to the public, we still see a ton of reports on TV, newspapers and the Internet. Some media even turn gaokao zhuangyuan news into headline stories.

As long as there is a college entrance examination, there will be top scorers, so some people believe they should receive publicity? I dont agree with it. The college entrance examination is only one test in students life, and it only proves students performance in that special area. All the hype boils down to a few relevant interests.

Some middle schools try their best to publicize zhuangyuan graduating from their schools, and this will make those schools famous and help them attract more excellent students in the future. As for the media, they want to take advantage of gaokao zhuangyuan to attract more attention and advertisers. The parents normally think its a best opportunity to show off their excellent children. Local education departments even tend to take this as part of their achievements. As a result, many people are still interested in the zhuangyuan craze.

How to cool off the craziness for zhuangyuan? There are many things that must be done. The system of the test for the entrance of universities and colleges needs to be reformed. A variety of methods to measure students should be introduced. In addition, curbing the media frenzy cannot be done by the government alone. College entrance examinations are here to stay, and people can learn to hold a more rational attitude toward the exam.

Guo Lichang (Guangming Daily): In ancient China, students worked very hard to pass the imperial examination, because passing it meant they would be appointed officials and win fame and wealth. The winners in those days were always admired and respected. This way of thinking carries on among todays Chinese. Despite the Education Ministrys reservations, gaokao zhuangyuan are still the target of media hype, which colleges, middle schools and businesses all want to benefit from.

Gaokao zhuangyuan is one of the products of an exam-oriented education system. Excessive hype will in turn encourage the status quo. The college entrance examination is only one part in students academic life,and its by no means the final goal of their efforts. The success in the exam does not automatically predict a successful life. Zhuangyuan should not become complacent due to public praise.

Every year, prestigious universities like Harvard, Yale and Stanford will reject 90 percent of applicants, most of whom are top students. Some are even students who earn full marks in the SAT. When recruiting new students, besides the exam scores, many prestigious universities also take into consideration the applicants abilities in other aspects such as leadership, foreign languages, part-time work and community services.

Nowadays, Chinese schools excessively emphasize exam scores. This would make students think that as long as you do well in exams, youll have a bright future. This is actually hindering the transition from exam-oriented to essential-qualities-oriented education. To dilute peoples interest in zhuangyuan, we need to set up more criteria for talent selection. When more attention is paid to peoples actual ability instead of their performance in exams, essential-qualitiesoriented education will be realized in the real sense. Students must know that the college entrance examination is only a small step in their life. The success in the exam will help them go further along the way, but many doors to success require their hard work.

Xu Xinxia (www.cnr.cn): Every year, Gaokao zhuangyuan receive attention normally reserved for movie stars when examination results are announced. Teachers of these top students are also hailed as heroes, basking in the limelight. Its easy to see why all schools are eager to produce one or two gaokao allstars, since it can bring them more public attention and is a kind of proof of their highquality education. Although the education authorities demand that schools act in a lowprofile way in terms of zhuangyuan, most of the schools are eager for the benefits of such publicity. Some prestigious universities have even gone so far as rejecting students who are not zhuangyuan of their province or their city.

The hype over gaokao zhuangyuan poses obstacles for quality-oriented education and is harmful to students psychological health. The media should be responsible for the craziness over test scores, but the local education authorities are also somewhat involved in the event. Therefore, to cool off the hype over zhuangyuan, the media is only partly to be blamed. The education authorities, schools and even students parents should all realize the harm of their intense pressure and help the students adopt a correct attitude toward the college entrance examination.

Hou Dongyang (Shenzhen Special Zone Daily): The media exposure of gaokao zhuangyuan is an important way for middle schools and colleges to make themselves known by more people. Middle schools that have produced zhuangyuan will be able to attract a large number of excellent students and thereby produce more top students in the future. This virtuous circle will bring to these schools a lot of positive interests. Colleges expect to attract high-caliber students with lucrative scholarships, which have become an important reference for zhuangyuan to decide which school to go. Some training institutions are also joining in the hype over zhuangyuan, featuring them in advertisements to improve these institutions reputation among younger students. Moreover, students parents are easily attracted to those middle schools that have produced zhuangyuan and will pay any amount to enroll their children in them.

When zhuangyuan has become something to be consumed, these top scorers themselves tend to treat choosing colleges in a commercial perspective. They rush to choose hot majors in prestigious colleges. Statistics show that the majority of zhuangyuan choose leading universities such as Peking University and Tsinghua University. From 1999 to 2011, these two top universities had recruited 802 top scorers across the country, accounting for 88.23 percent of the total. Most of these students chose popular majors such as economics and trade. This phenomenon is not good for universities balanced development.

Many gaokao zhuangyuan are products of the exam-oriented education system. Its quite possible that some of these students who do very well in daily study fail to achieve the best result in college entrance examination. Even for top scorers, its still uncertain whether they will be as excellent in college as they were in middle schools. Its even more uncertain whether they will perform well in their future career.

Excessive hype over gaokao zhuangyuan may make these young students get lost in the face of so much praise. They may become intoxicated in their achievements and emphasize more on their personal interests than on their responsibility to society and the country. The hype over zhuangyuan will not only harm students psychological health, but also affect the sound development of middle schools and even colleges. Society, including the media, the government and even students parents, should stop taking advantage of these excellent students for their own personal interests.

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