Recently, Yihetang Middle School in Zhuozhou City, Baoding, Hebei Province, was accused of requesting some underperforming students to voluntarily give up the junior high school academic proficiency examination. A parent uploaded a video alleging that their child was asked by the school to sign a commitment letter to give up the high school entrance exam and pursue separate enrollment pathways for further studies.
In the video, the parent expressed, “The principal is avoiding meeting us,” and criticized the school for only focusing on improving the school’s enrollment rate rather than prioritizing education on a daily basis.
Another parent revealed that the parent signature field on the commitment letter was signed by the student themselves, without the knowledge of their parents.
The incident has sparked discussions online. Many netizens believe that the school, in its pursuit to enhance its enrollment rate, is depriving students of their right to take exams.
“Chasing after enrollment rates for bonuses;” “It’s all driven by interests. Many vocational schools give rewards to junior high school principals and homeroom teachers for admissions, ranging from hundreds to a few thousand yuan. In order to get this money, they spare no effort;” “An irresponsible education system! The root cause of declining national quality!”
In response to this, a staff member from the Supervision Office of the Education and Sports Bureau of Zhuozhou City stated to Jiemu News that on the morning of the 10th, they received a complaint regarding Yihetang Middle School allowing students to sign commitment letters to give up the high school entrance exam, and the matter is currently under investigation with no conclusion yet.
Staff from the Education Bureau of Baoding City mentioned that regardless of the academic performance of junior high school third graders, all students have the right to participate in the high school entrance exam. The local education authorities do not have any policies, regulations, or notifications allowing students to sign commitment letters to give up the exam, suggesting that this may be a voluntary action by the school or the individual teacher.
It is worth noting that the phenomenon of restricting underperforming students from participating in the high school entrance exam is not an isolated case.
In 2019, Dongming Wanfu Middle School in Heze, Shandong Province was reported by parents for prohibiting “poor-performing students” from taking the exam, which drew public attention. According to mainland media reports, at that time over 100 students were unable to participate in the exam and were forcibly diverted to vocational schools, as confirmed by a homeroom teacher citing local education bureau regulations.
In 2023, Wanli Experimental School in Wanli, Nanchang, Jiangxi also exposed news that a homeroom teacher in the third grade used graduation certificates to coerce students into giving up the high school entrance exam.
Some netizens commented, “This has been reported, but this has been the operating procedure for a long time. I can’t understand, what’s wrong with education! They say it’s compulsory education, but it’s all about money, even basic necessities like providing hot water at school are not guaranteed… all about money for the children… alas.”
“I was dissuaded from taking the high school entrance exam in 1998, I did not agree, it was more like forcing you not to take the exam. I ended up going back two months early in the last semester, feeling very uncomfortable. My grades were not good, but the right to take the exam should not be taken away, and being asked to go back two months early.”
“In 1999, when my son was in the second year of junior high school, the school held a meeting with the parents of the last 30 students in a class of 50 to mobilize their children to go to a technical school early and promised to issue junior high school graduation certificates the following year. The school’s goal was to improve the high school entrance exam enrollment rate. It’s estimated that this is the case nationwide, maybe still happening now.”
“In Guangzhou in 2002, they started diverting students with poor academic performance that year;” “I was also influenced before the high school entrance exam in 2005, but I did not accept it and ended up being admitted to a key high school.”