Candidates for the 2022 national postgraduate entrance examinations leave a testing site in Yuncheng, North China's Shanxi Province on December 26, 2021. Data showed that 4.57 million people applied for the exam, 800,000 more than last year. Photo: VCG

A mother has caused controversy online after she took her 6-year-old son to an entrance exam spot to make him "feel the atmosphere of postgraduate examination" in Jinan, East China's Shandong Province. 

The enthusiastic mom, surnamed Li, told local media on Saturday that his boy "still has 15 years to go, about 5,400 days to take the entrance exam." And she believes that taking her kid to witness the exam will help the child.  

Youyou, the boy, told media confidently that his goal is China's elite Tsinghua University in Beijing. 

With 4.57 million applicants nationwide, the 2022 national postgraduate entrance exam was held from December 25 to 27. It is estimated that the enrollment rate in 2022 is likely to fall below 25 percent for the first time. In 2021, the applicant number was 3.77 million, double that of 2017 when the number of applicants for the entrance exam exceeded 2 million for the first time ever.   

Some netizens objected to the mother's move, arguing that a child's future is not decided only by the exam, although learning should be encouraged. 

"When the child is young, you should not put too much pressure on him. It is better to take your child to museums, zoos, amusement parks to develop interests and have fun," said one Weibo user. 

"When a child grows up, many decisions are for him to think and make by himself," said another. 

"Don't worry. The boy will forget it in two days. I have a kid his age, and he just wants to be Batman," commented another.



Global Times