Peking University, Mar. 9, 2015: On Mar. 5 Peking University released its 2015 Independent Recruitment Scheme.
The most notable feature of the latest Independent Recruitment Scheme is that, Peking University is trying to return to the original intention of Independent Recruitment. For most students in China, the Gaokao (College Entrance Examination) is the singular way to higher education. Gaokao is a comprehensive test that assesses students’ overall capabilities, thus undermining students who have a special aptitude in one particular field but do not excel in other subjects. The Independent Recruitment aims to provide these students with a chance to enjoy the best education in the field they are good at, saving them from being excluded only because of deficiencies in their overall performances.
However, in recent years, the Independent Recruitment has veered off its original intention by quite a large margin. It has been dubbed “the mini-Gaokao”, since most students interpret it as another way into college, rather than a special path for a rather small amount of students. There were also a number of reports over the unfairness of the Independent Recruitment. One official at a prestigious university was even sacked for corruption, since he accepted a huge sum of bribes from potential students. All these events have enraged the public, and many people are calling for equality and transparency.
Thus, Peking University has made a significant amount of changes to its Independent Recruitment Scheme this year. In the latest version released for recruitment, Peking University has stressed that the original intention of the Independent Recruitment is to enroll students with a special aptitude in a certain field. It has specified that only students who have performed exceptionally well in national or international competitions, or students who have shown great potential in innovation or other certain disciplines will be eligible to apply for Peking University through Independent Recruitment. The university knows that its strength lies in basic sciences such as Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Computer Science and Philosophy. Hence, it intends to follow its strict guidelines of discipline-oriented recruitment policy to make sure it enrolls students who can enhance its academic research abilities.
Unlike previous years, Peking University will not use a standardized test to select students in 2015. The university will design its tests tailored to suit the strengths of potential students. This means methods will not be limited to written tests and interviews. Improvisational innovations, experiments, etc. are all possible means of tests. This diversity is intended to rid the Independent Recruitment of the nickname “the mini-Gaokao”, making it more creative and easier to see the qualities of potential students.
One thing that will not change is that Peking University will continue to adhere to its principles of equality and transparency. All members of the recruitment committee must comply strictly with enrollment rules and judge fairly and objectively. The entire process of the Independent Recruitment will be filmed. Peking University also welcomes external supervision. The public is encouraged to expose any suspicious activities. The university will also continue to aid prospective students who have financial difficulties to complete the Independent Recruitment.
As one of the experimental universities of education reform in China, Peking University will surely attract national or even international attention. One of the officials at Peking University reiterated that, the university will stringently stick to its enrollment principles of “nurturing outstanding talents who can shoulder the responsibility of society, who has a healthy body and mind, who can think independently, who have the abilities to apply knowledge to practice and who have a global perspective”. Peking University will certainly strive for success in another year of enrollment work.
The deadline for applications is Mar. 31st and initial assessments will be completed by the end of April. The tests will be on July 13th and July 14th, with the final results published on June 22nd.
Reported by: Xu Liangdi
Edited by: Zhang Jiang
