2006 Volume 2 Pages 51-59
To reduce the negative effects of the national unified examination system for university entrance, various reforms have been carried out by the Ministry of Education, in China. Since 1991, two kinds of examinations, i. e. high school graduation qualification examinations and university entrance examinations have been conducted every year. The graduation qualification examination is conducted at the provincial level and all subjects are included; only those who pass this exam can take the national unified examination for university entrance.
After the introduction of the graduation qualification examination, the national unified examination has been reformed. It was changed into the "[3+2] Program" from 1995 to 1998, and since then has been further changed into the "[3+X] program". The "3" of "[3+2]" or "[3+X]" means three compulsory exam subjects for graduates: Chinese, mathematics and English, and "2" means two other exam subjects that graduates can choose from politics, history, geography, physics, chemistry and biology. The purpose of the "[3+X] Program" was to turn Exam-oriented Education into Quality-oriented Education and to balance common and individual requirements for university entrance.
However, the burden on the applicants has been heavy, because they have to pass two examinations. We therefore need to reconsider their roles.
