High-achieving student makes waves online for entering teacher training

A high-achieving middle school student in Yancheng, Jiangsu province, sparked heated debate after choosing a seven-year teachers' school program instead of entering elite high schools with a higher chance of scoring admission to prestigious universities.

News website iShaanxi.com said the girl's mother shared the news on social media, saying the daughter scored 742 points out of a total of 800 on the city's high school entrance exam. The mother said they had also been informed the daughter has been admitted into Yancheng Kindergarten Teachers College for a seven-year program to become a schoolteacher.

According to the college's admission notice, students in the seven-year program — with 90 places this year — will have their tuition fees waived during the first three years, and scholarships can cover tuition for the remainder years.

Those who complete the seven-year program will receive a college degree and a government-budgeted job position at a public elementary school, but they will have to sign a contract to serve at least six years, sometimes in less-developed regions.

Based on the threshold given by Yancheng education authorities, the girl's score would enable her to enter any high school she wished. If she chooses a regular high school, she would spend three years there and compete for a place at the nation's top universities in the national college entrance exam, or gaokao.

Notably, the score requirement for the seven-year program is higher than most regular high schools.

The girl's decision raised heated discussions on whether she was "wasting her talent". Some said "she will regret it in the future"; others fear the program, which is hosted at a secondary vocational college, will be unlikely to provide a good study environment as her peers may not be at her level.

But many more defended the family's decision. Some said "every career can carve a good person"; others said as many college graduates still find it difficult to land jobs, securing a position earlier is in no way a bad decision, adding one can't blame teachers for being incompetent while criticizing talented people for entering the sector.

The mother responded the daughter herself wants to be a teacher, and her family has a decent income and already planned to buy houses for the daughter and her brother. As long as they don't have too much pressure and live a healthy life, they are more than happy, she said.