All hands on deck for high school admissions
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As the high school entrance examination looms, it is not just students who are coming under intense stress. Parents too are feeling the heat.
"I moved to Shanghai to be with my daughter after she entered middle school. Gaining admission into a prestigious high school is a big step toward securing a good job in the future," says 48-year-old Yu Hongxia.
Once a book retailer in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, she has been a full-time mom to her daughter for the past three years.
She even invested in an apartment in Pudong district, and acquired permanent residence as early as in 2002, with an eye on the future.
Her daughter, 16-year-old Chen Pinyu, transferred from a primary school in Wenzhou to Shanghai while in second grade, eight years ago.
"I stayed with my aunt until I graduated from primary school," the girl says. "It was quite stressful in the beginning as I lacked basic English skills. In Wenzhou, English is not introduced until middle school."
Yu says she moved her daughter to Shanghai for a better education with less pressure and competition.
"There were too many students in Wenzhou struggling to enter the two top high schools."
Although the total number of middle-school graduates in Shanghai decreased by 4,000, the number in Pudong district increased by 6,000 owing to its merger with Nanhui district at the end of 2009.
This has intensified the competition in Pudong district.
"I didn't expect this," Yu says. "I am under as much pressure as she is. I believe that studying in an excellent high school is essential for her future."
She will do anything to help her daughter pass the entrance examination with high marks, Yu adds.
Examination anxiety is common among those who lack confidence in their abilities and who take the exam too seriously, says Sun Shijin, professor of psychology at Fudan University.
These students seesaw between expecting good results and failing and frequently suffer from sleep and eating disorders.
But this kind of anxiety can also afflict parents who see their children as the sole hope in their lives, Sun says.
"While my daughter is handling the pressure quite well, I feel like I am the one sitting the exam. I'm so worried that she will fail to enter a good high school," Yu says, nervously.
The Shanghai high school entrance examination will take place on June 19 and 20, with tests in Chinese, Mathematics, English, Physics, Chemistry, and Politics.
Students can either be recommended to particular high schools or apply on their own. But the enrollment of students based on recommendation is 30 percent, contrasting with 10 percent for those applying on their own.
To ease the pressure, a few parents even look at the third option of sending their children abroad for studies.
Yu is one of them and says despite the costs involved, it is a viable alternative.
