Every year when the university entrance exam in China (known as gaokao) is held, students, parents and experts make calculations of the different possibilities that adolescents have to enter university. Those who took the exam in 1977, after ten years in which schools, colleges and universities were almost paralyzed due to the Cultural Revolution, will surely say with pride that in their time it was much more difficult.

More than five million people showed up at that 1977 exam. Only 4.8% of them were able to enter university , the lowest percentage in recent Chinese history. Due to the development of education throughout the country and the greater supply of universities, the numbers today are much more benevolent. In 2008, 57% of applicants managed to move on to higher education, figures that will be even more generous in 2010.

In the graph you can see the year, the number of students who applied to the gaokao (in tens of thousands – 万 -), the number of them who managed to enter the university and the percentage accepted.

Aquellos que consiguieron pasar el examen de 1977 se han convertido casi en mitos vivientes, considerados parte de lo que muchos piensan fueron los universitarios más inteligentes y capaces de la historia de China. Para hablar de este acontecimiento, en 2009 se estrenó una película, Gaokao 1977, donde se explican las vicisitudes de muchos jóvenes que habían sido enviados al campo durante la Revolución Cultural y que por primera vez veían una oportunidad de cambiar sus destinos. Para este examen no había ningún límite de edad ni se necesitaba ningún diploma escolar, con lo que millones de personas se lanzaron a probar suerte e intentar coger posiciones en la Nueva China.

Fuentes

► Gráfico: Página del Ministerio de Educación de China

► Antes en ZaiChina: artículos sobre el gaokao del año 2010