In China, a senior high school graduate will be considered an educated person, although the majority graduates carry on studying in universities or vocational colleges. Secondary schools play an important role in Chinese education. This article will focus on some basic information about Chinese middle schools and two Chinese Talent Selection methods - the Senior Secondary Education Entrance Examination (Zhongkao) and the College Entrance Examination (Gaokao).

Middle school education is divided into senior and junior middle school education. In junior middle schools, education can be categorized into academic secondary education and vocational/technical secondary education.

Normally, graduates from junior middle school will attend the senior middle school. As the senior middle school education is not included in the nine-year

compulsory education, schools can choose students according to their knowledge, skills and experience. Students who performed? well in junior school will be accepted by the elite schools. While, those with lower scores will face difficulties.

If they wish to continue their education they might enter a vocational secondary school to prepare? for? higher level education. Vocational education does not exist in junior middle school period. Vocational schools offer programs ranging from two to four years and train medium-level skilled workers, farmers, and managerial and technical personnel. Technical schools typically offer four-year programs to train intermediate technical personnel. “Schools for Skilled Workers” typically train junior middle school graduates for positions requiring production and operation skills.

History of Chinese secondary education

Secondary education in China has a complicated history. In the early 1960s, education planners followed a policy called "walking on two legs," which established both regular academic schools and separate technical schools for vocational training. During the Cultural Revolution, the expansion of secondary education created serious problems. In the late 1970s, government and party representatives criticized what they called the "unitary" approach

of the 1960s, arguing that it ignored the need for two types of graduates: those with an academic education and those with specialized technical education. Starting from 1976 a greater attention were paid to technical training; technical schools reopened and their enrollments increased. By 1986, primary education and junior-middle-school education became mandatory.

Generally, high school years usually have two semesters, starting in September and March. In some rural areas, operation may depend ton agricultural cycles. Number of lessons offered by schools on a weekly basis largely depends on the school's resource. In addition to daily lessons, private study and extracurricular activities are provided as well. Some schools may also offer vocational subjects. Generally speaking, Chinese, Mathematics and English are considered as three main subjects as they will definitely be examined in Gaokao.

How can you be an academic senior middle school student?

'Zhongkao', the Senior Secondary Education Entrance Examination, is the academic examination held annually in China to evaluate junior graduates. Generally speaking, Students will be tested in seven basic subjects. The scoring system may change and vary between different areas.

Admission process for senior high schools, especially top ones, is relatively similar to the one for universities in China. Students going through an application process have an option to choose? several high schools at which they wish to study. Once this is completed, the schools will announce their requirements based on applicant’s profile . Severe competition usually occurs in top ranking schools. Normally, most students? have successful results that allow them to carry on in secondary education.

More and more people would like to choose vocational schools to improve their knowledge. Given the fact that the competition for places in top institutions is tremendous, most high schools are evaluated based on their? academic performance in Gaokao. Although this system was not well developed, the proportion of vocational and technical students to total senior-middle-school students increased from about 5 percent in 1978 to almost 36 percent in 1985.

Chinese university entrance examination

The National Higher Education Entrance Examination, or commonly known as Gao Kao, is an academic examination held annually in the mainland of the People's Republic of China. This examination is a prerequisite for entrance into almost all higher education institutions at the undergraduate level. It is usually taken by students in their last year of high school, although? the age restriction has been abolished since 2001.

In 2006, a record high of 9.5 million people applied for tertiary education entry in China. 8.8 million of them (93%) were scheduled to take the national entrance exam; 27,600 (0.28%) have been exempted from standardized exams due to exceptional or special talent. The rest (0.7 million) had to take other standardized entrance exams, such as those designed for adult education students.