Although Huang Tzu-rei (黃子睿) had just finished his final exam, he did not feel at all relaxed on the last day of school.
He knew that it was back to the books to prepare for the Basic Competency Tests (BCT,
For Huang, a 15-year-old senior at the Lanya Junior High School (蘭雅國中) in Taipei's Shihlin District, life is nothing but one test after another.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
Since the Ministry of Education in 1998 decided to scrap the 42-year-old Joint Senior High School Entrance Examination and to replace it with a diversified enrollment scheme (
Huang, along with some 300,000 other third-year junior high school graduates, is among the first wave of students to take the test.
Although the new admission scheme is designed to alleviate the burden students must bear and to help them discover and develop different interests and talents, it has received a mixed response from both parents and critics who say it will do just the opposite.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
A typical day
Like most junior high school students, Huang's days are hectic -- full of classes and tests.
His day starts at 7:15am.
It takes him about five minutes to get ready before he jumps into his father's car to go to school. Although it only takes 10 minutes to walk to school, Huang doesn't want to miss the 7:30am grounds-sweeping, which is mandatory. So he takes the car.
The "early study" session starts at 7:50am when Huang has to either take tests or study for more tests later on that day.
Although normal class sessions start at 8:35am and end at 4:15pm, seniors are required to stay at school for an additional 45 minutes, during which time teachers offer more lectures or simply give more tests.
When the bell rings at 5:10pm, Huang's mother is already waiting for him at the front door, ready to take him to cram school.
Like most students in Taipei, Huang goes to cram school after regular school for supplementary education because he is worried about his mediocre grades.
Mondays and Thursdays are English classes, Wednesdays and Saturdays are mathematics, and Tuesdays and Fridays are physics and chemistry classes.
Classes usually last until 8pm or 8:50pm, when he is again picked up by his mother and heads home at last.
His day does not end here, though. He has to finish his homework and study. Occasionally he gets to chat with his buddies on the phone, discussing where to go during the weekends. He does not usually go to bed until midnight.
Two years ago when Huang transferred from one of the so-called "prestigious schools" (
"I used to skip classes to play pool," he said. "I also hung out with some friends who had connections with gangs. My teacher [at Tachih] forced me to write statements of repentance promising not to skip classes and I argued with her a lot about it," he said.
"He swears a lot too," said Hung Ming-liao (洪明瞭), Huang's math teacher at Lan Ya and a guidance councilor. "Whenever I overheard him swear, I asked him to do push-ups. Of course, I first obtained his parents' consent to do so."
Although Huang plays the violin, he said he does not plan to enter senior high school by the means of school recommendation.
"I don't think I'm qualified for that option because I have to show that I've been placed within the top three positions in municipal or national music competitions," he said.
Innovative scheme
The road of Taiwan's educational reform has been a long one. In 1995, Taipei City spearheaded moves to introduce the idea of a diversified enrollment system and initiated a trial of the scheme in 1997.
One year later, the education ministry decided to discard the Joint Senior High School Entrance Examination and replace it with the new admission plan.
The education ministry on June 30 last year announced a simplified three-channel version of the city's proposed six-channel admission scheme. The principal distinction between the new three-channel scheme and the abolished six-channel one is that school grades will not be considered, and that BCT grades will be the criteria used to evaluate a student's academic ability.
The new enrollment plan provides three major channels for students to enter senior high schools.
Admission will be granted on the basis of either an application (
All applicants need to take the BCT, which is held twice a year. The first test is slated to take place on March 31 and April 1, the second is scheduled for June 9 and 10.
Students will be tested on five subjects: Chinese literature, English, mathematics, sociology and natural science. Students will pick their best grades to use for applications.
To avoid the possibility that schools may have to choose among students gaining the same BCT score, schools may hold a second-stage written academic ability test, in which subjects requiring little memorization such as composition, listening comprehension and scientific experiments will be tested.
While applicants are allowed to apply to three schools at most by means of application, those applying by means of recommendation are allowed to apply to one school only.
The number of enrollments by both recommendation and application combined, however, should not exceed 50 percent of the total enrollment quota each school sets for the year.
Students can also enter high schools by using only their BCT grades. Candidates need to fill out a form for individual school preferences, which will be used as a reference guide for the allocation.
Praise and criticism
Even as some educational reformists and parents applauded the new admission scheme, others have harshly criticized the plan.
People First Party City Councilor Jeffery Sheu (
"It seems to me more like a `multi-dollar' enrollment scheme because it opens more educational channels only for those who are better off and can afford private tutors and music lessons," he said.
DPP City Councilor Lee Chien-chang (
"One of the advantages is that students' future is no longer determined by a single exam," he said. "It also encourages schools to choose and educate young people of varying potential."
Some of the disadvantages, Lee said, are that it does not actually alleviate the pressure on students.
"They still need to take the BCT, and instead of taking one, some of them may need to take two," Lee said. "A better idea is to abolish the competency test once and for all and let them all enter senior high schools," he said.
Lee's view was echoed by KMT City Councilor Chen Hsueh-fen (陳雪芬).
"The biggest flaw of the scheme is that exams still play an important role," she said. "When we say we don't want to see well-trained exam-takers, we're not saying that we want our students to be less diligent. Instead, we'd like to encourage them to work hard in the areas where they are gifted and in which they have an interest in."
Chen Chung-liang (
It costs NT$400 to take one BCT. Students need to pay NT$350 extra for registering by means of application, NT$550 by means of recommendation and NT$400 by means of allocation based on BCT scores. The old joint entrance exam cost only NT$650.
Chen added that a joint evaluation center should also be set up to review the qualifications of those who register for the two options of application and recommendation.
Tseng Cheng-chi (
When Tseng took up his current post four years ago, Lan Ya was listed one of the "hooligan schools" (流氓學校) in the area. Most students either had such bad grades that they had a slim chance of entering senior high school or had connections with gangs.
"The first week I was here, I declared war against those who were associated with gangs. Within two months, things started to get better," he said proudly. "I've always believed in psychological counseling and that most bad students have good hearts."
To offer innovative and efficient counseling, Tseng established a counseling room featuring meditation and qigong classes, and therapeutic sessions of soothing music and light.
Extra-curricular activities are also on Tseng's list. The school has over 60 associations including a football club in which most of the members are foreign students from seven different countries.
The campus also has a farm, where Tseng grows fruit, vegetables and flowers and uses them as live educational materials.
"You know students get most of their pressure from their parents," he said. "They compare their grades with those of their neighbors' kids. They pressure their children to choose subjects they believe will bring them good salaries after graduation. They should learn that in a pluralistic society, anyone can achieve distinction in different areas if they do things well."
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