Everyone in the office was talking about a news story today. It said that an NPC deputy suggested abolishing the “tracking after the high school entrance exam,” and also banning schools from persuading students to give up the exam just to improve admission rates. As a teacher, I was quite shocked to hear that.

I saw that news too. The person who made the proposal was Yu Miaojie, president of Liaoning University. He believes that in many places, the idea of sending students to general high schools and vocational schools by a fixed ratio has turned into a rigid rule, as if people have to decide the direction of their whole lives at fifteen or sixteen.

It really does feel a bit like moving the college entrance exam earlier. Some students with average grades have not fully matured yet, but because of just one high school entrance exam result, they get assigned to vocational schools, and their parents feel very anxious about it.

He also mentioned that China is now at a crucial stage of technological competition and industrial upgrading. If students are divided too early, it may affect the country’s talent reserves. After all, some children are late bloomers, and their potential has not shown yet.

But vocational education is important too. We often used to say that all roads lead to Rome. If everyone crowds into general high schools, won’t that just turn into another kind of pressure?

So his idea is not to look down on vocational education. Instead, he wants to focus on vocational bachelor’s programs and technical universities, giving vocational education more room to grow, rather than passively channeling junior high graduates into it.

The news also said that some schools, for the sake of admission rates, hint to students with poor grades that they should not take the high school entrance exam, so the statistics look better. To be honest, I’ve heard of that too.

That is exactly the kind of practice he wants to ban. Education should give every child a chance, not turn into a numbers game. In the long run, fairness and freedom of choice may be more important than a single exam.

After hearing your analysis, I do think this issue deserves serious discussion. Maybe the real question is not the tracking itself, but when and how we decide a child’s future.