Acute Supply-Demand Imbalance in Quality Higher Education 优质高等教育供需矛盾非常突出

Gaokao is often blamed as the cause for China’s examination-oriented educational system, but why can China not fundamentally reform the gaokao? GONG Ke, the President of Nankai University in Tianjin, points out that a main obstacle for the current gaokao reform is China’s shortage of quality higher education resources in comparison to growing demands. Only 8.5% of 9 million college applicants are able to be enrolled into first-tier BA programs. It seems not difficult to go to university, but parents and student applicants still find it extremely difficult to be admitted to a good university. Gaokao questions have to be designed to differentiate students. Inevitably, differentiation will stress details. Nowadays, people believe that students are differentiated based on gaokao rather than their family backgrounds. Gaokao reforms have yet to convince people that college admission will not be manipulated by guanxi. This explains why some universities give up oral examinations in their independent recruitment procedures.

Source: http://gaokao.chsi.com.cn/gkxx/jysp/201304/20130409/410848337.html