Taiwanese junior high students have three years to prepare for a high school entrance exam, called the HuiKao, which I will refer to as “The Test”. Students are tested on academics learned in middle school, and apply to schools according to the scores they get.
You get one chance, and that’s it. That single test could possibly determine everything about your high school experience. Of course there will be several mock tests to get you prepared, but the real one, that real one – when it’s over it’s really over.
The Test is not fair
The fact that The Test only happens once in a lifetime is problematic. Anything could happen, and if the day is not your day, all I can say is sorry. There are countless examples of students not being in their best condition on the day of The Test. Anyone could have a bad stomach, a headache, a runny nose, an injured hand, any unexpected physical issue that could affect a student’s performance. Thus, it is unfair for kids who deserve high scores and spots at top schools to fail just because of the lack of second chances under the Taiwanese curriculum.
The system does allow students who are unhappy with their scores to retake The Test after a year, but most students would rather just deal with it and go to the school they got into rather than spend another entire year trying for one more single score.
Additionally, The Test is biased towards children from wealthy families. The wealthier a student is, the more experienced, successful, and professional buxibans the student can attend. This inevitably results in an imbalance between the results and a student’s actual potential.
The Test leads to mental health issues and suicide attempts
The Test can “drive students nuts.” Since The Test is basically everything middle school students are preparing for through the course of three full years and only happens once, the result puts a ton of pressure on both the students and their parents. The moment test scores are released, some jump around out of relief; some, however, are racked with guilt, regret, and hopelessness. This is when dark thoughts creep in.
For students who only accept nothing but the best (which is quite common given the Taiwanese cultural perception of education) they cannot accept being at an “inferior” school and are prone to suicidal thoughts after being rejected. This explains why 10 percent of Taiwanese students at least occasionally fantasize about ending their lives under the current system.
The test is so absurdly important that even parents are starting to become irrational. For example, one mother committed suicide after her daughter didn’t get into her choice of school.
Another example of the dark side of HuiKao is the girl who committed suicide because she couldn’t find her admission cards for The Test. The girl, just like any other Taiwanese student, tried her best to prepare for The Test, and imagined a wonderful future. Sadly, she managed to lose her admissions card, and all the test center could say was “sorry”. She didn’t get into any school she expected to be in, and due to all the stress, despair, and shame combined, she decided to end her life.
Taiwan would be better without The Test
When people think of Taiwanese education, they think of memorization and tests. Why are students cramming English vocab and grammar instead of content-led instruction and critical reading and writing? Because HuiKao doesn’t require them to.
The only motivation students have is to get good grades, and they are becoming more and more superficial about this goal. As school and students’ values distort towards only wanting high scores, they overlook more important skills such as critical thinking, cooperation, and leadership skills. This means that the current Taiwanese curriculum is training testing machines instead of intellectuals who could most effectively impact society.
People may say that testing is a part of our culture and it is what makes Taiwanese students competitive. However, due to the gradual build up of a “high-scores-equals-success” idea, most Taiwanese students have the same mindset for their future, which limits their distinctiveness. This is why lots of highly-educated professionals choose to work at someone else’s company or seek opportunities abroad instead of starting businesses and leading on the frontier of Taiwanese industries.
In addition, the talented students who could do the most for society are not always strong test-takers. This means that The Test in Taiwan is only good at selecting one kind of thinker and hinders creative development of the country.
Abolish The Test
In conclusion, HuiKao is unfair. It puts too much pressure on students to the point where they have mental health problems, and it also limits Taiwanese society. The Test is just an easy way for the government to select the best “testing machines” without considering the traits of students.
Taiwan has a potential that hasn’t been fully explored. This is why the Taiwanese government should stop holding us back and reduce the emphasis on testing, abolish HuiKao, and establish a more open-minded and well-rounded educational system.
This article raises many important questions, each of which deserves a full and informative answer. From the description of “The Test”, I would agree that a more open-minded and well-rounded educational system would benefit all students at this stage of their lives in education.