China modifies education system; Bans exams for 7-year-olds

In China's hyper-competitive school system, it was previously required for students to take exams from first grade onwards, culminating in the feared university entrance exam at age 18 known as the Gaokao.

The ‘Gaokao’ is one of the few ways that poor and rural students can access better educational opportunities and job prospects at top universities, where a single score can determine a child's life trajectory.

"Too frequent exams ... which cause students to be overburdened and under huge exam pressure," have been axed by the Ministry of Education, according to new guidelines released Monday.

“The pressure on pupils from a young age "harms their mental and physical health," the Ministry said.

The regulations also limit exams in other years of compulsory education to once a term, with mid-term and mock examinations allowed in junior high school.

In July, China ordered all private tutoring firms to turn non-profit, and barred tutoring agencies from giving lessons in core subjects at weekends and holidays.

The aim is to reduce China's education inequality, where some middle-class parents willingly fork out 100,000 yuan ($15,400) or more per year on private tutoring to get their children into top schools.

Moreover, with population growth at its slowest in decades, the country lifted the two-child birth limit this year.

Beijing city authorities last week announced that teachers must rotate schools every six years, to prevent a concentration of top talent at some schools.

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Education also banned written homework for first and second-graders and limited homework for junior high students to no more than 1.5 hours per night.

However, many Chinese parents still regard education as a path to social mobility.