Students nationwide sit gaokao

High school graduate Chen Siyin said that if she is able to enroll in her dream university, her rigorous study schedule in recent years will have been worthwhile. Students from eight provincial-level regions－Hebei, Liaoning, Jiangsu, Fujian, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong and Chongqing－will sit for the "new gaokao" this year, marking the third group of pilot regions in China to implement comprehensive reform of the examination. The reform allows students to have more exam choices－up to 12 combinations of subjects, instead of the two choices between liberal arts and science subjects before－in accordance with their hobbies, interests and specialty subjects. "I still prefer liberal arts subjects but I was not good at geography, so I chose biology instead," she said. "As China's economy has grown rapidly in recent years, and with more job opportunities emerging, the gaokao cannot shape one's destiny as it did in the past, and students and parents have a more rational attitude toward the exam," she said.