October 17, 2007
Now that Hui Di has told us more about the educational process in China, we have greater understanding of the students. It seems that because of sheer numbers of people, students are separated according to academic promise in their early years. The higher education track is determined at the end of 6th grade. Those who do not pass the test are only expected to finish up to 9th grade and are given lesser educational opportunities. Those who pass are given better teachers and harder work. School is compulsory until the 9th grade, but only until last year was it free. Only if a student passes the 9th grade exam is he allowed to attend high school. Parents must pay for the high school attendance.Those who do not pass, must find jobs or apply for a vocational school. For those who pass, the next hurdle is 12th grade exam. Only if you pass with a high score will you have a “chance” of attending a university. The university exam is a national one given on June 7 & 8 across the nation. On June 9th the answers are given and you must estimate your score. The final results come out a month later. Depending on your estimation, you may apply to only three universities at your score level. Even then, it is not a guarantee you may attend. Just last year the rule was changed that you may attend a university at any age. Formerly, one must qualify and attend university by age 23 or you will have missed your chance altogether.
Given these guidelines, the pressure is very great on the children to succeed academically from elementary grades so that they will make the cuts all the way through. It seems that, because there are so many people and so few universities and teachers to accommodate the population, this has been the system used to make sure the best get the best opportunities. China could not possibly accommodate everyone who wanted to attend higher education right now.
Today, I forgot to bring my family photos to class so I had to change my tact. I still shared about my family coming to Hawaii. The students know the term “banana” and ABC (American Born Chinese). So, when I explained I was Chinese, but was very American in behavior and thought, one student said with great enlightenment, “banana.” I don’t know if they were taught that was a derogatory term or not, but I readily agreed with her and admitted, with pride, I was the perfect example of an “ABC banana.” Fortunately for me, the students today had many questions. They wanted to know about American schools, American teenagers, and what did I think of China. I was able to tell them how much I saw China changed since I was here last, 23 years ago.
Also, today we took a different route to school so as to miss the fog on the highway. On this route there are cameras tracking speeding cars so the driver had to go slower than he normally drives which made the ride a bit longer though the distance shorter.
This trip also is turning out to be also a culinary experience. We have been to a dumpling dinner, hot pot, Peking Duck, spceial lotus root soup (like my mother used to make), and tonight, a Muslim dinner of soup with bits of bread. We each had to shred a hard bread into our bowls. The bowls are numbered and taken to the kitchen where they are filled with transparent noodles and mutton, beef, or vegetarian soup. You claim your bowl by the number. The only problem was that the waitresses could not speak English and we didn’t know what number they were calling. We then seasoned the dish with cilantro and pickled garlic. The dinner was delicious.
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