21st Century Business Herald reporter Chen Jie Intern Chen Qian reported from Guangzhou
Tang Shangjun, a repeat student of the college entrance examination, announced at the end of August that he would continue to repeat his studies. Before that, he had taken the college entrance examination 15 times.
Tang Shangjun's statement on social media makes people feel his "unwillingness", and this is also the inner thoughts of many repeat students.
This is the case with Chen Yi, who will take the college entrance examination in 2023. "The whole high school was in a mess, and I only scored more than 370 points in the college entrance examination, and I regretted that I didn't study well and wanted to do it all over again." It took a long time to make this decision, and I was always struggling with whether to repeat it: I was afraid that I would do worse in the exam next year and waste my time; If I don't repeat it, I feel unwilling and want to give myself another chance to fight again. In the end, I decided to repeat it. ”
Since high school is not compulsory, repetition is currently a "pass" that can be used indefinitely. However, many related policies are also being adjusted. For example, from the perspective of the college entrance examination, Guangxi, where Tang Shangjun is located, will be the first year of the new college entrance examination in 2024, and the "3+2+1" form will be implemented, regardless of arts and sciences. In addition, some provinces emphasize that public ordinary high schools are strictly prohibited from recruiting repeat students, and some public repeat schools are gradually split.
"According to the policy, the separation of repeat schools and public high schools is required, and the government is planning." Ding Jun (pseudonym), a repeat teacher at a public school in Suzhou, Anhui Province, told the 21st Century Business Herald reporter, "Today's repeat schools, even if the fee standards are raised, can still receive many students." ”
However, behind the red-hot re-reading industry chain, it is not uncommon to repeat with high scores and repeat for many years. Xiong Bingqi, president of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, believes that in order to curb the increasingly fierce phenomenon of high-score re-reading and "test mastery", the whole society should form a consensus to cancel the incentive measures for high-scoring students in the college entrance examination and candidates admitted to prestigious schools, at least all incentive measures for college entrance examination repeat students can be canceled first.
The number of non-fresh college entrance examination students increased
According to the 2022 National Education Development Statistical Bulletin, there will be 8,241,000 high school graduates in 2022, an increase of 438,800 over the previous year, an increase of 5.62%. But in 2022, data from the Ministry of Education showed that the number of applicants for the national college entrance examination was 11.93 million. The difference of 3.689 million between the number of college entrance examination applicants and high school graduates is the number of college entrance examination repeat students and social registration for the college entrance examination.
This difference has increased significantly in the past few years, which means that the number of non-fresh college entrance examination students has increased: according to the Ministry of Education, In 2019, there were 7,892,500 high school graduates, and the number of applicants for the national college entrance examination in 2019 was 10.31 million, a difference of 2,417,500; in 2020, there were 7,865,300 high school graduates, and the number of applicants for the national college entrance examination that year was 10.71 million, a difference of 2,844,700; 7,802,300 high school graduates in 2021 and 10,780,000 in 2021, a difference of 2,977,700.
In 2023, 12.91 million candidates will register for reference nationwide, an increase of 980,000 over last year and a record high. Previously, in 2020, data from the Ministry of Education showed that the number of general high school enrollment was 8,764,400, an increase of 369,500 over the previous year. Even if all of these people take the college entrance examination in 2023 (the number of general high school graduates will be lower than the number of general high school enrollment three years ago), the gap between the number of college entrance examination applicants and high school graduates will continue to widen.
"I am a repeat student in the class of 2023, and in 2022, I took the college entrance examination, and my college entrance examination score was 5 points worse than the undergraduate line, which was very unwilling. Later, he chose Maotanchang Middle School to repeat his studies, scored 443 points in the college entrance examination this year, passed the undergraduate line, and is currently admitted to a private undergraduate in Anhui. Zhang Yuyue, a repeat candidate in Anhui Province, told the 21st Century Business Herald reporter.
At present, the 2023 provincial high recruitment admission work has successfully ended in August, and the acceptance rate of various places has also been released. For example, according to the Anhui Provincial Education Admission Examination Institute, the 2023 high-enrollment admission work in Anhui Province has ended at 18 o'clock on August 12. The admission results show that more than 2,100 ordinary colleges and universities have admitted a total of 517,000 candidates, 13,000 more than the previous year. According to data from the Shaanxi Provincial Education Examination Institute, on August 12, the admission of ordinary colleges and universities in Shaanxi Province was successfully completed. A total of 289,900 new students were admitted to 1,631 ordinary colleges and universities across the country.
According to the number of applicants for the college entrance examination and the proportion of admitted candidates, the provinces are basically between 80% and 90%. In other words, all candidates who take the college entrance examination have books to read as long as they want.
However, after the college entrance examination every year, there will be many candidates who want to join the group of repeat students, including not only students who play abnormally, volunteer to fill in the wrong report, and are very close to the undergraduate line, but also some students who give up going to college because they are admitted to schools and majors they don't like and want to "turn over against the wind".
Judging from the difference between the number of high school graduates and the number of college entrance examination applicants, more and more students may want to repeat their studies. In addition to reading "high four", even "high five" and "high six" are not uncommon.
In addition to candidates, parents are also one of the promoters of this repetition "marathon".
"My child was reluctant to repeat his studies, so he reluctantly signed up after my persuasion, and this year his score can only go to junior college. Repeat a semester is more than 10,000, 1,500 yuan per month living expenses, spending so much money to let the child have a good educational environment, at least hope that he can go to an undergraduate. Undergraduates will be better treated in all aspects of employment. A parent of a repeat student said.
But many repeat students feel that the pressure they face is more than the pressure of ordinary senior year of high school.
Zhang Yuyue believes that re-reading is the "darkest moment" of her life. "When I repeat the test, I have to take the weekly exam every week, one day is a day, and I have to rank twice, and if I regress, the head teacher will call the parents. In addition to the weekly exam and the monthly exam, what makes me most worried is that the unified examination of the Education Bureau and the weekly examination a few days before the college entrance examination are together, and the exam is taken for four or five days in a row, and the morning reading and evening self-study are normal, only two hours of rest at noon, and I feel that the brain cells are almost insufficient. ”
Chen Yi, who also chose to repeat the study, also said that the life of repeated reading is very difficult. "After choosing to repeat my studies, I slowly broke away from my original circle of classmates, and when my high school roommates were in the group to prepare for college life, I was still writing the unfinished test paper in high school. When they are all discussing college topics, I will be secretly sad, and many times I will be confused, if I fail again, can I withstand it? ”
"The college entrance examination is already a one-way bridge, and if there is a better choice, no one wants to let the child taste the pain of the third year of high school again." The parents of the above-mentioned repeat students said.
Xiong Bingqi told the 21st Century Business Herald reporter that re-reading itself is different from person to person, and whether a candidate chooses to repeat it should make a reasonable assessment according to the family's economic situation and his own ability.
"If the college entrance examination has already played a relatively good level before, and further re-reading cannot improve your ability, then it is obvious that it is not necessary to repeat it." And if the family's economic situation is not good, repetition will also face great psychological pressure. Then there is that candidates must realize that re-reading itself is to obtain higher scores, if they lack good psychological quality, in the context of other students going to college, re-reading may not necessarily achieve good results. Xiong Bingqi said.
Repeat Choices and Equity in Educational Resources
According to the 21st Century Business Herald reporter, there are currently two main modes of repetition. One is the repeat class run by famous public schools by affiliated branch schools. The other is private private school repetition, and the cost of repetition is set according to the student's grades. With the increase in the number of repeat readers, the re-reading of the "Business Classic" has also become quite prosperous.
Zhang Yuyue repeated his studies at Maotanchang Middle School, with a tuition fee of 15,000 yuan a year, in addition to about 1,500 yuan per month for accommodation and food. "My school has more than 80 repeat classes, and one class has about 170 students. The minimum fee is 2,000 yuan per semester, and the college entrance examination score line of the year must be more than one book. The maximum fee is 38,000 yuan per semester. ”
Ding Jun said that his public school has always had repeat classes since its establishment, and the fees are divided and registered according to the college entrance examination results, with 10 points in one grade and 1,000 yuan in one grade. There is no charge for those who pass the score line, and the maximum fee is 19,000 yuan. Last year the school had only 10 repeat classes, and this year there are 17 repeat classes.
However, the model of holding repeat classes in public schools has been being cleaned up.
In late July, a parent of a high school graduate in Ji'an City said on the People's Daily Leader message board that public high schools in Ji'an violated the national regulations prohibiting public schools from recruiting repeat students, and enrolled a large number of students who had not reached the ideal university score target in the 2023 college entrance examination, and opened repeat classes.
On August 16, the People's Voice Channel Studio of the Jiangxi Provincial Party Committee replied on the People's Daily Leadership Message Board that after verification by the Ji'an Municipal Bureau of Education and Sports, due to the large increase in the number of college entrance examination candidates in Jiangxi Province in 2023, and the enrollment plan is relatively flat compared with previous years, the number of unsuccessful candidates has also increased accordingly, and the demand for repetition is strong. In order to standardize the behavior of public high schools, the Ji'an Municipal Bureau of Education and Sports held a special municipal school enrollment work meeting on July 5, 2023, reiterating the relevant policies of repeat classes, and ordering Ji'an No. 1 Middle School and Bailuzhou Middle School to immediately suspend the enrollment of repeat classes.
At the end of August, the Qinghai Provincial Department of Education put forward specific requirements on the start time of the fall semester, enrollment management, standardized teaching, deepening reform, and security guarantees, proposing that public ordinary high schools are strictly prohibited from recruiting repeat students, and private high school students are strictly prohibited from transferring to public ordinary high schools.
Xiong Bingqi believes that in recent years, public high schools have held repeat classes and recruited repeat students, and in some places there has been a "resurgence", and some public high schools have taken the mobilization of high-scoring students to repeat their studies as an important means to create political achievements for further education. This is contrary to the direction of educational evaluation reform that the country is advancing.
"My repeat school has also been asked to be separated from the public high school, and the government is planning, and it is only a transition at the moment." Ding Jun said.
It is worth noting that many repeat students do not have books to read, but to sprint to better schools.
According to the National Statistical Bulletin on the Development of Education, in 2012, the total scale of all types of higher education in the country reached 33.25 million, and the gross enrollment rate of higher education reached 30%. In 2022, the total number of students enrolled in all forms of higher education will be 46.55 million, an increase of 2.25 million over the previous year. The gross enrolment rate of tertiary education was 59.6 per cent, an increase of 1.8 percentage points over the previous year. Corresponding to the rapid increase in the gross enrollment rate of higher education, the number of major colleges and universities has been relatively stable.
According to Ding Jun, their school has students who score more than 600 points every year and come back to repeat their studies. However, more repeat students are below the undergraduate line of the college entrance examination and choose to repeat in order to be admitted to the undergraduate.
But behind the re-reading, there are many hidden problems. In addition to high-score repetition, some candidates do not read even if they are admitted multiple times, and repeated repetition is considered a waste of educational resources.
Some provinces' response policy to this is to restrict relevant voluntary reporting. For example, in 2022, the Henan Provincial Education Examination Institute reminded candidates that if the enrollment plan is wasted due to non-enrollment after admission, the number of schools that register for the college entrance examination next year will limit the number of schools they fill in their volunteers, and in each batch of parallel volunteering, the number of schools that they are allowed to fill in their volunteers does not exceed 2.
In 2023, the Henan Provincial Education Examination Institute once again reminded candidates that volunteering is a prudent choice for candidates personally, and it is also a written commitment to the institutions they apply for. Being admitted and not registering not only wastes valuable enrollment plans and college education resources, but also crowds out the opportunities of others. In order to maintain the fairness of admission opportunities, for candidates who do not fulfill the voluntary agreement, the electronic file of the admission of the batch will stop operating; For those who do not enroll after admission in the current year, and actually study in school, resulting in waste of enrollment plans, the number of volunteers who register for the college entrance examination next year will be appropriately limited according to the provincial volunteer setting. Candidates' non-compliance will be recorded in their personal electronic file.
In addition, the "Shanxi Province 2023 General College Admissions Work Regulations" proposes that the admission rule is to first sort the candidates' characteristics and total scores from high to low. When the total score of the candidates is the same, they will be sorted by the results of each subject from highest to lowest. However, candidates who did not register after being admitted last year will be ranked last in the same score. In other words, if you have been "recorded but not read", the actual ranking of the candidate will be at the bottom of all candidates with the same score.
According to the provisions of the Ministry of Education's documents, starting from the 2023 enrollment, candidates who have abandoned their admission qualifications or withdrawn after being admitted to the special plans for the admission of key universities (national special plans, local special plans, and special plans for colleges and universities) in previous years will no longer be eligible to apply for the special plan.
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