Gaokao still gateway to better future

HENGSHUI HIGH SCHOOL in North China's Hebei province, an "emblem" of exam-oriented education, recently opened a campus in East China's Zhejiang province where schools tend to focus on students' all-round development rather than just exam scores. Its entry in Zhejiang was met with opposition from some educators in the province. China Youth Daily commented on Tuesday:

Hengshui High School's attempt to export its educational ideas appears to have been given the cold shoulder in Zhejiang. A local educational official even portrayed the "Hengshui mode" as obsolete and contrary to Zhejiang's developmental education. An investigation has been launched to find out why the Hengshui campus started enrolling students months before the start of the new semester.

Famed for its success in recruiting high achievers in the college entrance examination, or gaokao, the Hengshui High School had 139 students admitted by Peking University and Tsinghua University, the two top universities in Beijing, in 2016 alone. An achievement that was second to none.