Yesterday was the first day of China's national college entrance exam and a record figure of almost 9 million high school graduates were packed into exam centers around the country.

 

Each one of the 8.8 million students is vying for one of only 2.6 million undergraduate places at the country's universities. Compared to last year the number sitting the exams has grown by 10 percent but the number of available university places has only gone up by 5 percent making competition for places fiercer than ever.

 

In Beijing more than 126,000 students were sitting the exam, said Xian Lianping, vice-director of the city's education committee. He estimated that more than 70 percent of those sitting the exam in Beijing would secure university places thanks to education policies which favored the capital.

 

 

But even with such good odds Beijing parents were obviously feeling the strain.

 

"Both my wife and I took two days off to accompany our daughter to the exam," said a father surnamed Ning. He sat in front of the Affiliated School of Beijing University of Chemical Technology waiting for his daughter who was taking the exam yesterday afternoon.

 

Ning said he'd also booked a room in the nearby Huiqiao Hotel for their daughter to rest in at noon because their home in one of the city's northern suburbs was too far from the exam center.

 

To ensure students can sit the exam in peace and quiet local governments across China urged construction sites to stop working yesterday and today. Activities like open air Karaoke have been strictly forbidden.

 

 

High-tech equipment has been deployed in exam rooms nationwide to ensure there's no cheating. Electronic monitoring devices, mobile phone detectors and shielding machines are being widely used. More than 1,600 exam centers in Beijing have been equipped with tele-electric monitoring systems. And supervisors can closely scrutinize exam halls on closed-circuit television networks.

 

In central China's Henan Province electronic shielding machines have been installed in all exam halls to prevent any cheating by mobile phone use. Figures from the Ministry of Education reveal that about 1,700 students were disqualified for cheating last year. Before the exam got underway Vice- Minister of Education Zhao Qinping emphasized that any student found cheating would a get a zero mark.

 

Some students in east China's Fujian Province are the only teenagers to have escaped the exam. Because of flooding following days of torrential rain around 4, 600 students in Jian'ou have had their exams postponed. When they'll actually sit the test will depend on the weather, the local education bureau said last night.

 

In south China's Guangdong Province days of heavy rain didn't affect 520,000 students yesterday.

 

However, in Dabu County of the city of Meizhou 620 students from areas affected by the weather were relocated to urban areas for the exam.

 

Two students in the provincial capital of Guangzhou were diagnosed with chicken pox during yesterday's exam and were transferred to a separate room to continue the test.

 

In Harbin, provincial capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, a father and son received a lot of attention as they walked into the exam room side by side. As the eldest examinee in the province, 46-year-old Meng Fanlian, said he was excited to be sitting the exam at the same time as his 18-year-old son.

 

"It's my first time taking the exam," he said. "I'll try my best." He said his favorite subject was English and he got up early every morning to read the language with his son who's just graduated from the city's No 9 Middle School. "I want to compete with my son to see who can perform best in the exam," he said. "It's encouraging for him."

 

 

 

(China Daily June 8, 2006)