On October 16th, the ministry of education (教育部) said that all high school entrance exams (中考) should include fine arts testing by 2022.And 12 cities in six provinces have started the practice. The scores change from 10 to 40 points.
This news has caused heated discussion. What will it mean for students? We invited two teenagers to share their ideas.
Zhao Xin, 14, Beijing
I'm in junior 2. We have a music class and a drawing class every week. Sometimes, the teachers show us movies about famous painters or musicians, telling their encouraging life stories. Studying music or fine arts is never a stress to me and the tests are only about what we've learned in class. What's more, we have open-book exams in my school. Most of my classmates will get over 90 out of 100 points. I don't think these subjects will be too difficult if they're included in the high school entrance exams.
Zhao Hanfang, 15, Yunnan
l study in a village school. Our school doesn't have separate music and art classroom. Every Friday, students from several classes will have music class in our library hall. With so many students, the teachers can't check everyone's singing in each class. It's really hard fortone-deafpeople like me to remember the melodies(旋律).So I need to do extra practice before the test, and I feel worried. So if music is included in the high school entrance exams, l might be under much pressure.
