China’s ‘two sessions’ 2023: cut English exam burden on students, lawmaker urges
- NPC deputy says most people don’t use the language in work or life and its weighting for college entrance should be lowered
- The compulsory subject also raises barriers for rural test-takers who don’t have access to qualified staff, he says
National People’s Congress deputy Tuo Qingming said English was a time-consuming subject and only added to the burden on students.
“[The subject] has limited practical value for many people,” he said on the sidelines of the annual legislative meeting in Beijing.
“For a considerable number of people, learning a foreign language is only for admission to higher education. What they learn is actually exam-oriented … They will seldom or never use foreign languages in their work or life.”
Tuo, a middle school principal in Yaan, Sichuan province, said English had too much weighting in the national college entrance exam, or gaokao, a series of tests that can determine future education and job prospects.
The gaokao comprises three compulsory subjects – Chinese, mathematics and English – and three supplementary subjects either in arts or science.