China's Ministry of Education has set the goal to improve the education system by reforming college admission requirements by reversing the current exam-oriented admission qualifications.
The ministry said that admission to a university will no longer be based solely on students' results on the national college entrance exam or Gaokao. They will now be evaluated on their social practice, art, physical health and standards of morality in addition to the Gaokao results.
Extra Gaokao credits were previously given to students who excel on academic contests such as the very competitive mathematics Olympiad.
Currently, most students get a strict one-size-fits-all diet of exam subjects in both the arts and sciences. The ministry aims to replace that trend by allowing students to choose three subjects out of six--biology, chemistry, physics, geography, politics and history--plus their mandatory math, English and Chinese scores.
Xinhua News Agency reported a schoolmaster in Haining City in Zhejiang Province named Zhou Bin who said that "the new regulation will help students take advantage of their strengths and overcome their shortcomings." He explained further that the old system forced students to pay attention to their weaknesses too much.
The Gaokao, officially the National Higher Education Entrance Examination (also translated as National Matriculation Examination), was created in 1952, cancelled officially in 1966 and was reinstated in 1977. There is a big difference between the numbers of applicants and admissions, making some people call the Gaokao a "single-plank bridge."
During its use and most notably in recent years, the Gaokao has received various criticisms for its inability to recognize a student's innovative spirit. It has been blamed for serious brain drain in the country.
In 2008, the number of exam takers peaked at 10.5 million, but the number of students who took the Gaokao exam has declined to just 9.3 million in 2014. Also, many students among the top scorers opted to study in Hong Kong.
Zhou Bin added: "We need to transform our education system to one for the people, to better cultivate our students."