In Taiwan, almost every ninth grader has to stress themselves out for Huikao, a test that most kids need to take to attend high school. This May, my life stopped being miserable after finishing Huikao.

Though preparing for Huikao was stressful, I understood how to study more effectively and face academic stress. At the same time, however, I realized how Huikao limits our critical thinking, how depressing it is, and how it is an ineffective way to rank students.

What is Huikao?

The Comprehensive Assessment Program (CAP or Huikao) is a test for graduating middle school students in Taiwan to determine what high school they go to. Ninth graders have to answer questions on knowledge of Mandarin, English, math, science, and social studies.

Students have to understand all topics taught in middle school. Then, they have to answer multiple-choice questions for all subjects, finish written questions for math, and complete a Mandarin essay.

Preparation for Huikao

Since Huikao covers three years of academic materials, we started preparing for Huikao in July during eighth grade and continued until May of the next year, which means that we were reviewing past studies and learning new information simultaneously.

Tons of test booklets and practice worksheets stacked up into tremendous stress. Moreover, we used to take two mock tests in school each day, and it was overwhelming to learn new material while doing test prep.

After suffering from fluctuating grades in the first semester of ninth grade, I learned to embrace some of my poor grades. At first, I stayed up late cramming before tests, but this approach only made me second-guess myself during exams since I wasn’t fully familiar with the material. I also struggled to concentrate in class and had to spend more time revisiting topics that weren’t clear to me.

My solution was to prioritize reviewing my weakest subjects. For example, I reduced most of my review time for science to study history. Although my science grades dropped slightly, I knew it was still easier to raise them once I built a solid foundation in the more challenging subjects.

Huikao is improving yet still flawed

Before Huikao, middle school students took the Basic Competence Test (BCT). BCT questions tested students on specific information, such as historical dates and names of important figures, which required students to memorize information to get high marks.

The government noticed that students were becoming test-taking machines rather than good thinkers, so they replaced the BCT with Huikao. Huikao is designed to encourage students to understand concepts instead of memorizing details. Students can achieve good scores by applying knowledge from different subjects to real-world situations. Furthermore, written sections for math and Mandarin allow students to express their ideas.

Regardless, Huikao still has major flaws. The exam relies heavily on multiple-choice questions. For example, reading comprehension questions often focus on interpreting the author’s feelings or identifying symbolism. This pushes students to adopt the “correct” way of thinking instead of developing independent thought, which limits critical thinking.

Furthermore, students only get one shot at Huikao. The two test days determine which high school a student will attend. If they get sick or face an emergency on those two days, they might perform poorly on the test and end up in an unsuitable high school for the next three years.

Students often feel worthless when they do poorly on mock tests. Then we become anxious about having only one chance for Huikao and develop low confidence, which worsens our test performance.

Other students may not do as well as they want on the actual test. One of my former classmates had an emotional breakdown that lasted for two days. Six months after the CAP, my other friends still hate themselves for not doing well. Although Huikao only determines a student’s future high school, which they will only study in for three years, it strongly affects students.

The cycle of stress creates mood swings, poor health, and poor sleep quality. Huikao shouldn’t be a test that pressures students into this negative cycle.

Include other factors when ranking students

Huikao is a standardized test that only measures students’ grades, so students admitted to top-ranked schools are often strong test-takers but may lack essential skills such as communication, leadership, problem-solving, or teamwork. Therefore, the government needs to fix the issue by measuring these skills.

Unfortunately, the students who tend to possess these important abilities may not get a high Huikao score and are forced to attend lower-ranked schools. Top-ranked schools receive better resources from the government or other organizations, including special programs led by experts and premium features for online platforms. Therefore, students who have less access to resources are often shut out of those programs and then are funneled to lower-ranking schools in high school.

In other words, students with the highest Huikao scores have them not because they are fundamentally smarter or more inclined to be “critical thinkers,” but because they lived in more affluent areas or their parents could afford to put them in a more diverse range of extracurricular classes. These resources should be accessible to all students who can make meaningful use of them.

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Although the current iteration of Huikao includes more critical thinking and problem-solving skills compared to past exams that tested students’ memorization, it still needs to improve.

Huikao shouldn’t be stressful, and the Ministry of Education should evaluate Huikao’s flaws by including other factors when determining a student’s high school. Students shouldn’t receive a lower education even if they didn’t do well in Huikao. The government should make sure skills such as communication, leadership, and teamwork can be measured and considered, and that all students have access to programming where they can learn these skills.

Although Huikao is flawed, it shouldn’t be abolished. Hopefully, the government can add more features to make a student’s future high school suitable for them.