English out of the Gaokao; What happens next?

A reform on changing the status of the English test in the college entrance exam, or Gaokao, has aroused a heated discussion among educators around China, the Beijing News reports.

The English test will be removed from China's college entrance exam by 2020, according to details of the exam and admission reform, as revealed by the Ministry of Education.

Instead, tests will be held several times a year to allow students to choose when and how often they take the exam in an effort to alleviate academic pressure and change China's once-in-a-lifetime exam system.

However, Professor Guo Yingjian, who is also dean of the School of Foreign Studies, at Minzu University of China, expressed doubt over the authority of the English test following such a reform.

Currently, the Ministry of Education employs relevant experts to prepare exam papers and keep them away from the public, usually in hotels, for about a month before testing takes place, so as to ensure that tests aren't leaked prematurely. Then, each student is assigned an official date when he or she will take the exam.

Meanwhile, the professor believes that "more chances might become more of a burden in the end, since Chinese students are likely to repeat the test until they get the highest score".

The reform on changing the status of the English test would also lead to social problems, this educator claimed; for example -- English teachers worry that they may lose their jobs, while students would neglect English studies if the major they choose doesn't require excellent English.

Cai Jigang, a professor at Fudan University's College of Foreign Languages and Literature, told the Shanghai Daily that the reform shows China is learning from the West to give students more test-taking chances.

But Cai added that he was against any plan to reduce the status of English in the college entrance exam because it failed to take into account the nation's demand for foreign language abilities, the demand to accept the challenge of globalization and the internationalization of higher education, according to Shanghai Daily.