Even more students than last year can opt out the annual gaokao this year, as it approaches next week. In recent years, an increasing number of parents sent their children to overseas schools. Even though there's increasing amount of negative news about this group, the parents think this is the best option for their children, especially compared to what they can get at home.
When Hu Enrui was a sophomore in middle school, he made a pact with his father Hu Ming that if he could get into the best high school in Lianyungang, East China's Jiangsu Province, his father will send him to a university in the US after he graduated.
Hu Ming was surprised when his son said he wanted to study abroad. Lianyungang is a third-tier city and doesn't have as many resources as Beijing or Shanghai, but Hu Enrui said he learned about the US from American films and admired the country.
Since then, Hu Ming started saving up. He had worked at a bank in the earlier years and then started his own business.
"Money is not an issue. We can afford to send him abroad," he said. "The important thing is he receives a better education and has more opportunities."
The annual two-day gaokao (college entrance exam) takes place across China next week. Hundreds of thousands of students sit through the tests that could greatly impact their lives.
But many, like Hu Enrui, already know their fate before June.
Nowadays, it's not uncommon for Chinese parents to send their children overseas for college education. The trend has been rising in recent years, amid discussions about the regional inequality of gaokao that has led to mass protests against affirmative action policies.
Angry parents
Hu Ming decided to send his son abroad at a time when discussions about equal access to education in China were becoming more heated.
In the past, parents have always argued that Beijing is in an unfairly advantageous position in terms of access to good education, because the scores required for local Beijing children to get into Beijing universities are lower than those from other provinces. Beijing is targeted also because it has a high concentration of prestigious schools, such as Peking University and Tsinghua University.
As the number of good-quality higher education institutions in China is limited, the college entrance exam essentially decides the fate of many families across the country. It's a fast and relatively fair way for these children to move up the social hierarchy, which is why it's also a high priority for many parents.
Last month, a group of angry parents in Nanjing blocked the road to the provincial government headquarters and demanded justice. The protests came after the Ministry of Education released affirmative action policies that cut Jiangsu and Hebei's college enrollment quota to increase chances of students in poorer, western regions getting into better institutions. After a couple of days, protests also erupted in several cities in Hubei Province.
Following the protests, education authorities have reassured parents that the policy was based on the prerequisite that college admission rates for local students in the regions concerned will not be lower than last year.
Many commented that when it comes to their children's future, Chinese parents are always edgy.
But in reality, most of those who joined the protests are people without a choice, people whose children must take the gaokao to enter a university. The process greatly impacts their children's future. For many others, they have alternative choices, such as sending their children abroad.
Choosing another path
Hu Ming's son was accepted by the University of California this year and will start in September. Hu will willingly pay for his son's tuition, about one million yuan ($152,000), in full.
"People at my age probably have some savings, a couple of apartments, and we are willing to spend a little on our children's education," he said. This applies to many people in the growing middle class in China.
Some parents also choose the path of overseas education for their children simply to avoid the gaokao.
Zhang Zhanhe, a staff at Nanjing Institute of Technology, said being a teacher at a higher education institution, he doesn't have much faith in the quality of Chinese college education. Besides, he doesn't think his daughter can go to a good university in China, because her grades aren't in the top range of the class.
Naturally, sending her abroad became the family's best option.
Because they are unfamiliar with the application process, the family sought help from an agency, which took care of compiling the materials.
During the application process, it became clearer that his daughter better suits a system where evaluation is not solely based on grades. She had organized a number of school activities and served as an English translator on many occasions, all of which strengthened her application.
