Exam one of the few channels for social mobility

A student raises his arm in excitement after finishing the National College Entrance Exam (NCEE) at the Guiyang No 6 High School in Guiyang, capital ofSouthwest China's Guizhou province, June 8, 2014.[Photo/Xinhua]

Posters that appeared in a high school in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region emphasizing the importance of passing the national college entrance exam, with statements such as "enter a good university even if the effort fills your whole body with wounds", have aroused much discussion. Comments:

It is easy to blame those who made the posters, but difficult to change the sad reality that the national college entrance exam remains one of the few chances for grassroots children to change their destiny. There are too few channels for people at the bottom of society to climb up the social ladder. In order that posters of this kind disappear, it is necessary to make society fairer and grant ordinary people more opportunities.

People's Daily, May 27

For adults, the national college entrance exam is already a distant memory, but for high school students and their parents it is a looming challenge that might decide the students' future. True, the posters are too radical, but they provide the students with what they direly need, a push to make more efforts. We must admit that sometimes pushing is needed rather than encouragement.

Hunan Morning Post, May 27

It has long been a popular belief among high school students that the national college entrance exam decides everything. They will soon learn this is a lie when they leave college. Who told the lie first? High school authorities have their interests to do so - they need to emphasize the importance of the national college entrance exam so as to get more funds from the government as well as more tuition fee from students.

Gu Jun, a professor of sociology at Shanghai University, May 26

(China Daily 05/28/2015 page8)