Society

Parents look to ease kids' ordeal

By Chen Jia (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-06-08 07:38

BEIJING - While 9.3 million Chinese students are fighting for university seats in the cutthroat national college entrance examinations that started on Tuesday, their parents are undergoing a test of a different sort.

Success on the exam now depends solely on the children. Many parents, though, are doing all they can to eliminate extraneous obstacles that may make their children's ordeal even more difficult.

For that reason, exam supervisors in Beijing have been told they may not wear high-heeled shoes or use perfume inside testing places because such things are distracting.

In Guangzhou, test takes who forget to bring an official ID to a testing site can use a face recognition system to enter. To have their test results counted, their parents simply have to send the required ID in later.

"The college entrance exam is the first big occasion for my daughter, so I will wait for her here and struggle along with her," said a mother surnamed Wang, who stood outside an examination site in Beijing on Tuesday. "Although my daughter says I don't have to do this, I feel it's my obligation as a mother."

"I got up at 5 am to join a group of volunteers who took exam takers to the testing sites in our cars for free," said a Zhejiang province taxi driver surnamed Fang, who is also the father of an exam taker.

At the testing sites, police officers were on duty to maintain order and help exam takers who either got stuck in traffic or forgot to bring their exam IDs. Temporary parking places were also reserved for parents who dropped their children off and picked them up.

But not everyone needed to be shepherded to and from a testing site. Wang Xia, an 82-year-old, took the national college entrance exam for the 11th time in his life in Nanjing this year. Wearing a baseball hat and pink shirt, Wang beamed with confidence as he waved his exam IDs before entering the test room on Tuesday.

"It is not important whether the elderly man can pass the exam this year," said a woman surnamed Zhang, the mother of an exam taker. "He at least deserves respect for his passion."

"I will tell his story to my daughter tonight and encourage her to complete this challenge tomorrow (Wednesday)."