ABSTRACT
The Chinese education system is effectively a dichotomous system: K–12 and college. During K–12, students do whatever they can to score as high as possible on the college entrance exam so they can get into the best colleges possible. During college, students enjoy life a bit before doing whatever they can (typically beginning in junior year) to find good jobs upon graduation. In this chapter, we focus our discussion on the K–12 stage from the perspectives of children, parents, and teachers. This is followed by a discussion on unequal educational resources in China. We then briefly discuss college education and the halo effect of the exam system. In the Road Ahead section, we predict a gradual shift away from a sole focus on exam scores. However, this change can only be successful if ethical standards in Chinese society are substantially improved and corruption is reduced.
