With 11.93 million applicants, will the competition for the college entrance examination become more intense?

Xiong Bingqi

　　In 2022, the national college entrance examination will be held on June 7th and June 8th, except for the postponement of Shanghai.

This year, the number of applicants for the national college entrance examination was 11.93 million, a record high.

Compared with the 10.78 million applicants for the college entrance examination last year, the number of applicants for the college entrance examination this year has increased by 1.15 million. Many candidates feel that the competition for the college entrance examination has become more intense this year.

In fact, it is not the case. The evaluation of the degree of competition in the college entrance examination depends on the admission rate of the college entrance examination.

Although the number of applicants for the college entrance examination has increased, the admission rate of the college entrance examination has increased rather than decreased in recent years.

　　The increase in the number of applicants for the college entrance examination is the result of a combination of factors such as loosening the restrictions on secondary vocational graduates, giving more secondary vocational graduates the opportunity to further their studies, and increasing the number of high school graduates.

As the number of applicants for the college entrance examination exceeds 10 million and the admission rate of the college entrance examination exceeds 90%, my country's higher education must promote the "wide entry and strict exit" training model.

　　Last year, the number of applicants for the college entrance examination in my country reached 10.78 million. Many candidates and parents are also worried that the competition for the college entrance examination will be more intense. From the actual situation, the overall admission rate is higher.

According to data released by the Ministry of Education, in 2021, a total of 10,013,200 students will be enrolled in general and vocational colleges nationwide, including 4,446,000 general undergraduate students, 41,400 vocational undergraduate students, and 5,525,800 higher vocational (specialist) students.

Based on this calculation, the college entrance examination admission rate reached 92.9%, of which the undergraduate admission rate was 41.6%.

　　In 2019, my country launched a three-year enrollment expansion plan of 3 million for higher vocational colleges, and lifted the restrictions on the proportion of graduates from secondary vocational schools.

In the past, the proportion of graduates from secondary vocational schools was generally limited to less than 30%. By 2021, the proportion of graduates from secondary vocational schools in various regions who choose to continue their studies has reached nearly 70%.

In 2018, the number of applicants for the college entrance examination in my country was 9.75 million, and then the number of applicants for the college entrance examination increased to 10.31 million in 2019 and 10.71 million in 2020.

With the increase in the number of applicants for the college entrance examination, the undergraduate admission rate may decrease, but this only calculates the ratio of the number of undergraduate admissions to the total number of applicants, and does not consider the factor that the new applicants are mainly applying for higher vocational colleges.

　　The increase in the number of applicants for the college entrance examination is partly due to the increase in repeat students, especially the "new trend" of high-scoring repeat reading in recent years.

In order to reduce the phenomenon of repeating the college entrance examination, we should reform the way of college admissions, promote the "two-way choice" between students and schools, and improve the candidates' satisfaction with the colleges and majors they are admitted to, instead of the game-like color of filling in the application now.

At the same time, it will reverse the orientation of only academic qualifications and prestigious schools in employers, as well as the discrimination of "first academic qualifications", and give talents with different educational backgrounds equal employment and development opportunities.

　　This is also an evaluation reform that must be made to prevent secondary vocational education from becoming further education and education-oriented education after expanding the opportunities for secondary vocational students to go to school.

In many regions, there is a tendency to evaluate secondary vocational schools by the rate of admission and promotion, which will mislead secondary vocational schools.

After higher education has entered the era of popularization, the educational function of secondary vocational education will be adjusted from cultivating secondary vocational and technical personnel to preparing for the cultivation of high-quality skilled personnel for higher vocational education.

With the implementation of the new "Vocational Education Law" and the establishment of the vocational education college entrance examination system, the proportion of secondary vocational students will be higher.

To prevent higher education orientation and attach importance to the education of students' basic knowledge and basic skills, it is necessary to get rid of the education evaluation system of only academic qualifications and prestigious schools.

　　For more than 10 million students entering universities every year, how to ensure the quality of talent training is a more important issue.

In the era of popularization of higher education, in order to ensure the quality of talent training, we must promote the "wide entry and strict exit" training model.

There is still a common problem of "emphasizing enrollment and ignoring training" in colleges and universities in my country, and the society's evaluation of talents is also biased towards the admission score of "entry" rather than the actual quality of "export".

The result of "only grades" and "only academic qualifications" is that some schools do not pay attention to the talent training process, and some students "mix diplomas".

As higher education becomes more popular, the admission threshold for most colleges and universities will be lowered.

Under this circumstance, more than 10 million college students will successfully obtain diplomas and go to society every year. However, whether every college graduate is "real" is another matter.

Only by strictly controlling the quality can we avoid the "educational bubble" and allow every student to obtain high-quality education.