It’s every parent’s wish to see their children excel in life, and for millions of students in China, it all comes down to this one particular exam.
Starting Thursday, nearly 10 million Chinese students will take the annual national college entrance exam, a gruelling test known as gaokao – ‘the high test’.
Thousands of concerned parents crowded the streets of Maotanchang town in east China to wish their children luck in a massive send-off ceremony on Tuesday.
Residents and parents crowd the streets to send students off for the annual national college entrance exam in east China
Bus is marked ‘Maotanchang Middle School gaokao bus’. A total of 11 buses are carrying 15,000 students to the exam centres
An enthusiastic father holds up a banner that reads ‘Get No. 1’ to wish his child success in the upcoming exams
Video footage of the exuberant send-off shows thousands of high-spirited parents cramming the streets near the entrance of Maotanchang Middle School in Anhui Province.
‘Good luck! Good luck! Good luck to all children!’ They chanted while waving mini red flags with the words ‘wishing all students success in gaokao’.
One enthusiastic parent was seen holding up a large red banner with a couplet written in Chinese calligraphy to wish his child the very best.
‘My child will sit in the gaokao tomorrow,’ he said. ‘I hope that he will be No.1 in his class!’
Led by a police escort, 11 buses carrying 15,000 students from 127 classes then departed the town for the city’s exam centre in Liu’an, according to GB Times.
A team of policemen is dispatched to ensure the safety of the parents and local residents in the massive send-off
Thousands of high-spirited parents cram the streets near the entrance of Maotanchang Middle School in Anhui province
Students are sent off to attend their college entrance test for two days in a bid to get into top universities in the country
Some Chinese students spend hours studying for the test with some revising up to 16 hours a day in extreme cases
Parents are seen waving mini red flags with the words ‘wishing all students success in gaokao’ during the send-off
In the country, the gaokao is widely considered to be one of the most significant tests in a young person’s life, if not the most important. It is often dubbed the ‘world’s hardest exam’ in the media.
The results of the exam dictates which university each high school graduate would attend, making it an ‘all or nothing’ challenge for many families.
The notoriously competitive exam lasts for nine hours over the course of two days in most of the provinces and incorporates mathematics, science, English, physics, chemistry, geography, history and Chinese.
Some other provinces including Xinjiang, Hainan and Zhejiang host the exams over a span of three days.
A total of 9.8 million students are expected to take the gaokao this year, 350,000 more than last year, according to China’s Education Ministry.
Pupils would often spend hours studying for the test with some revising for 16 hours a day without a break in extreme cases.
Maotanchang Middle School (pictured) boasts an unrivalled history in helping students enter top universities in China
Teenagers study as long as 16 hours a day continuously and without a single day off at Maotanchang Middle School (pictured)
The middle school in Maotanchang has been known for its ‘cram school’ industrial model – that yields results – among Chinese parents.
Many families have moved to the town from across the country and paid up to 48,000 yuan per semester (£5,604) in order to get their children a place at the school, a cult institute among success-thirst Chinese parents which boasts an unrivalled history in helping its students enter top universities.
Last June, it had a team of 780 teachers overseeing 200 classes and more than 25,000 students enrolled in the school, according to the report.
Lectures and practice exams are held every day from 6:10 am to 10:50 pm, with only two 30-minute meal breaks and one hour of relaxation time in between.