中國農村學生在全球數學競賽中擊敗數學精英引發驚嘆和懷疑 (2/2)

Recently CNN News on-line reported the following:

Rural Chinese student sparks awe and suspicion after beating math elites in global contest (2/2)

Joyce Jiang, CNN

Mon, July 8, 2024 at 2:24 a.m. PDT·6 min read

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Social stigma for vocational students

Among the cacophony of commentary, some suspect the harsh public scrutiny of Jiang is rooted in social prejudice against vocational students.

“The fact that Jiang, the vocational student, has garnered so much public attention per se mirrors social discontent with China’s education system,” Zhao Yong, distinguished professor in educational psychology at the University of Kansas, told CNN.

These students make up the bottom 40% in China’s senior high school entrance exam, or “zhongkao.” They do not qualify to enter regular high schools, where students cram for “gaokao,” China’s notoriously daunting college entrance exam.

In a society where poor academic performance is often equated with moral failings, “lazy bones,” “small-timers,” and “delinquents” have become bywords for the cohort who perform poorly on the zhongkao at 15 and are generally resigned to toil in factories for the rest of their lives.

This represents a stark reversal from the 1980s and 90s when vocational schooling was respected as a sought-after path to “iron rice bowls,” a popular term for secure jobs, amid the country’s urgent need for technical workers. However, the boom soon died down as higher education expanded in 1999.

As China races to meet its ambitious “Made in China 2025” goal to become “a world manufacturing power,” Beijing has been strengthening vocational education in recent years. But structural discrimination in China’s schools, universities and workplaces means society still favors academic degrees over trades.

Another ‘disappeared Einstein’?

In an interview with The Beijing News, a Communist Party-owned newspaper, Jiang said she wanted to go college and that her dream school was Zhejiang University, a top academy in the e-commerce hub Hangzhou. But that could still be difficult despite her apparent maths proficiency.

Jiang’s mentor Wang told the state-run Xinhua Daily that due to restrictions on major choices for future vocational education, she can only apply to three colleges in Jiangsu province, with her best option being a second-tier public university.

“China selects and categorizes talents way too early and too rigidly. This has greatly limited individuals’ future options and paths,” said Zhao, citing Germany and Finland as better examples of dual-track schooling with greater flexibility for students to shift between vocational and academic tracks.

Beijing’s attempt to emulate those European nations by encouraging resource exchanges between the two types of schools over the past decade has met a lukewarm response from high schools busy coaching students to score higher in the “gaokao” university entrance exam.

According to Zhao, Jiang is already “a lucky rarity if she’s truly gifted in math.” But he warned she may become a “disappeared Einstein” – one of the many buried talents in China’s education system.

The jury is still out, with second-round results due next month.

Jiang considers math her “Plan B,” prioritizing fashion design for future study, according to The Beijing News.

Zhao said working in a factory is a “reasonable choice” for the 17-year-old village girl, who as a vocational student has limited options for higher education.

“After all, she has a mouth to feed,” he said.

Translation

（繼續）

高職學生的社會恥辱

在一片刺耳嘈吵的評論中，有人懷疑大眾對 Jiang 的嚴厲審查源自於社會對高職學生的偏見。

Kansas大學的教育心理學傑出教授 Zhao Yong 對美國有線電視新聞網（CNN）表示： “Jiang 作為高職學生受到如此多的公眾關注，本身就反映了社會對中國教育體系的不滿。”

這些學生佔中國高中入學試或稱為“中考”最低的40%。他們沒有資格進入普通高中, 與普通高中學生擠塞在一起參加“高考”，即中國出了名的令人畏懼的大學入學試。

在一個把學業成績差等同於有道德弱點的社會裡，「懶骨頭」、「無名之輩小人物」、「不良少年」已經成為那些15歲中考表現不佳、一般都甘願一輩子在工廠辛苦工作埋頭苦幹的人的代名詞。

這與20 世紀80 年代和90 年代截然不同，當時，在國家急需技術工人的情況下，職業教育被視為通往有安穩工作的熱門途徑,普遍稱它為「鐵飯碗」。然而，隨著 1999 年高等教育的擴張，這種能賺很多錢的時期很快就消失了。

隨著中國競相實現「中國製造2025」成為「世界製造強國」的宏偉目標，北京近年來一直在加強職業教育。但中國學校、大學和工作場所的結構性歧視意味著社會仍然偏重學術學位而不是技能。

另一個「消失的愛因斯坦」？

Jiang 在接受中共黨報《新京報》採訪時表示，她想上大學，她的夢想學校是浙江大學，這是電子商務中心杭州的一所頂尖學府。但儘管她的數學水平明顯很高，但這仍然可能很困難。

Jiang 的 Wang 導師 告訴官方媒體《新華日報》稱，由於未來職業教育專業選擇的限制，她只能報考江蘇省的三所大學，最好的選擇是二線公立大學。

Zhao 引用德國和芬蘭作為雙軌教育的更好例子，為學生在職専和學術軌道之間轉換提供了更大的靈活性說: 「中國對人才的選拔和分類太早、太嚴格。這極大地限制了個人未來的選擇和道路。

過去十年，北京試圖效法歐洲國家，鼓勵兩類學校之間進行資源交流，但高中卻忙於輔導學生在高考中取得更高成績的而反應冷淡。

據Zhao 說， Jiang 已經「是個稀有的幸運如果她真的有數學天賦」。但他警告說，她可能會成為「消失的愛因斯坦」 - 中國教育系統中眾多被埋沒的人才之一。

目前尚未有任何決定或協議，第二輪結果將於下個月公佈。

據《新京報》報道，Jiang 認為數學是她的 “B 計劃” ，她未來會優先學習時裝設計。

Zhao 說，對於這位17歲的鄉村女孩來說，在工廠工作是一個 “合理的選擇” ，作為一名職業學生，她接受高等教育的選擇有限。

他說: 「畢竟，她要吃飯過活」。

 So, a vocational high school student in rural China has amazed the nation by outshining elite students in a global math contest and now her story is mired by controversy. Her encounter represents a clear reversal from the 1980s and 90s when vocational schooling was respected and sought-after due to the country’s urgent need for technical workers. China has changed and is changing.