The chances of students pursuing higher education have grown with the college admission rate reaching 80 percent. That's why the proposed change to the college entrance exam (gaokao) is no small matter. It wouldn't be exaggeration to say that it will have an impact on the lives of millions of Chinese families.

The Decision on Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening Reforms, issued by the Third Plenum of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee, emphasizes the reform of gaokao and the college enrollment system. As Minister of Education Yuan Guiren said, the gaokao reform is a crucial part of the comprehensive reform of the education sector.

High school students get only one chance to crack gaokao, which for all practical purposes determines their future. The plenum decision, to be implemented through a series of measures, is expected to solve the problem of one single exam deciding the future of a student.