BEIJING — In a well-to-do district of Beijing, families gather in the city’s most expensive private hospital, their children hooked up to IV drips of vitamins and sedatives meant to help them cope with an approaching storm: midterm exams. They are part of China’s “gaokao generation,” named after the country’s university entrance exam, known as the gaokao. The pressure on young people is profound. Stress-related illnesses and suicide rates surge each spring before the test.
Across the country, secondary school students as young as 15 are regularly enrolled in after-school programs that can extend well past midnight. Parents hire tutors, buy test-prep materials and resort to increasingly desperate measures — including bribes and falsifying medical records — to get their children into better schools. The intense focus on academic achievement has become a defining characteristic of modern China. But as the country moves to create a more egalitarian society, the pressure-cooker education system is increasingly seen as a barrier to social mobility and a threat to its young people’s mental health. “The high school students here are stressed out, depressed, and generally anxious,” said Zhang Jun, a psychiatrist who runs a counseling clinic in Beijing. “They have very little agency over their own lives, and they’re afraid to disappoint their parents and teachers.” The gaokao has been a part of Chinese society since the Ming dynasty in the 14th century, but its importance has grown exponentially in recent decades as China has become increasingly competitive. In 2021, nearly 11.9 million students took the test, and just 3.1 million were admitted to undergraduate programs at the country’s top universities. The intense competition has led to a thriving shadow industry of test-prep materials and services. Some tutoring companies have been known to charge as much as $30,000 a year. The pressure to succeed is not limited to students. Teachers are also under immense pressure to produce high-scoring students, and schools are often ranked based on their students’ gaokao results. “The whole system is rigged,” said Li Li, a high school teacher in Shanghai. “The students who do well are the ones who have the best tutors and the most supportive parents. It’s not really a fair competition.” The gaokao system has been criticized for exacerbating social inequality. Students from wealthy families have a significant advantage over those from poorer backgrounds, who may not be able to afford the best tutoring or schools. “The gaokao is supposed to be a way to level the playing field,” said Wang Feng, a professor of sociology at Tsinghua University in Beijing. “But in reality, it does the opposite. It reinforces social inequality.” The pressure of the gaokao has also taken a toll on young people’s mental health. In a study published in the journal Pediatrics, researchers found that Chinese adolescents who were preparing for the gaokao had significantly higher levels of stress, anxiety, and depression than their peers who were not preparing for the test. “The gaokao is a major life event for Chinese teenagers,” said Jiang Tao, a psychologist at Peking University in Beijing. “It can be a very stressful time, and it can have a significant impact on their mental health.” The Chinese government has recognized the problems caused by the gaokao system, and it has taken some steps to reform it. In 2014, the government announced that it would reduce the importance of the gaokao in college admissions. It also introduced a new system that allows students to apply to multiple universities with a single application. These reforms have had some impact, but the gaokao remains a major source of stress for Chinese teenagers. “The gaokao is a deeply ingrained part of Chinese society,” said Feng. “It’s going to take a long time to change.” In the meantime, Chinese teenagers continue to struggle with the immense pressure to succeed. “I feel like I’m constantly under pressure,” said Yang Li, a 17-year-old student in Beijing. “I’m afraid of failing the gaokao and disappointing my parents. I just want to be able to relax and enjoy my childhood.”.
