We also need to correct the "baton of admission rate" and protect students' "right to take the high school entrance examination". The admission rate | the homeroom teacher suggests that candidates abandon the exam | the high school entrance examination

Recently, some media reported that a student from a middle school in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, was suspected to have failed to take the high school entrance examination due to the homeroom teacher's suggestion of abandoning the exam. Subsequently, the Education Bureau of Nanchang City issued a situation report stating that after verification, the media reports were basically true. It will urge the local education administrative department and the schools involved to actively communicate with parents, handle this matter properly, and hold relevant personnel accountable.

It is worth noting that on the day when the Education Bureau of Nanchang City issued the situation report, the schedule for the cultural subject exam in Jiangxi Province's middle school entrance examination was already halfway through. So far, the school involved and the parents of the students have not been able to reach a mutually agreed solution. When other students finished the high school entrance examination and handed in their answers for an important stage of their lives, the news reported that this student still did not know how to complete the "last exam" of his junior high school studies.

This student's experience is not an isolated case. Although the author is unable to access data on students who abandoned the high school entrance examination in various regions, let alone the specific reasons behind their abandonment, many netizens have expressed similar situations around them - some students with poor grades, under the pressure and temptation of their teachers, homeroom teachers, and even the school, ultimately chose to give up the high school entrance examination.

The reasons for the school's "discouraging" can be described as diverse. In the news report on the incident of abandoning the exam, the class teacher involved said "for your own good" - "If you take the exam, you can only get your graduation certificate if you score 290 points, otherwise you won't get your graduation certificate. But if you don't take the middle school exam, you will be directly issued your graduation certificate." From the comments of other parents, some missed the registration time, some didn't pay the exam related fees on time, and so on. Compared to the reasons provided by the school, parental attribution is much more direct. They believe that the school's persuasion of students with poor grades to give up the exam is aimed at improving the average score and admission rate of the class and school.

At the policy level, as early as 2018, the General Office of the Ministry of Education issued a notice on doing a good job in the enrollment of ordinary primary and secondary schools in 2018, which clearly stipulated that "it is strictly prohibited for middle and high schools to rank students in the middle and high school entrance exams, promote the top scorers in the middle and high school entrance exams, and increase their enrollment rates". Subsequently, many local government education departments have also introduced corresponding regulations, making the ranking, promotion, and hype of enrollment rates a "policy red line". However, in specific teaching activities, scores and admission rates are still important evaluation and assessment indicators, and even the most important "baton" for teaching activities.

The role of the "baton" in the promotion rate is reflected in many aspects. The professional title evaluation and promotion of teachers and homeroom teachers, the evaluation and assessment of school teaching quality, the allocation of educational resources such as funds, materials, and teaching talents among different schools, and the competition for high-quality students in enrollment work are almost all closely related to the enrollment rate. There are two main ways to improve the enrollment rate: first, to improve the quality of teaching, increase the number of students who can smoothly enter school, and second, to reduce the number of students taking exams. Students with poor grades are unable to contribute more to increasing the numerator and become a drag on increasing the denominator. Encouraging them to withdraw can easily become a "rational choice" for the school under the baton effect of enrollment rate.

However, the "rational choice" that conforms to the baton effect of the enrollment rate deviates from the original intention and mission of the school's education. The purpose and goal of education, especially in the compulsory education stage, should be to cultivate and shape individuals through systematic educational activities in schools, so that every student can achieve physical and mental health, healthy growth and development, and continuously improve their comprehensive quality and ability. In contrast to this purpose and goal, competitive, selective, and standardized entrance exams often focus on testing the qualities and abilities of students in certain aspects, and form a clear distinction and recognition among candidates, "widening the gap.". If the overall teaching activities of compulsory education are organized around entrance exams, it is not conducive to the comprehensive growth and improvement of students' physical and mental abilities, nor is it conducive to the formation of inclusive education, covering every student with high-quality education. Students who are at a disadvantage in competitive, selective, and standardized exams will face enormous competitive pressure and find it difficult to obtain a favorable environment for comprehensive development. As for those "underperforming" students who rank lower, they can't even get entry tickets to participate in the competition and are directly "discouraged" and eliminated. The extreme practice of cutting off a number that treats students as denominators has deviated too far from the essence of education.

In short, participating in the middle school entrance examination is a legitimate right of students and should not be arbitrarily deprived by others. On the basis of clearly protecting the legitimate rights and interests of students, it is also necessary to effectively correct the erroneous tendency of some places and schools to blindly pursue admission rates, even relying solely on admission rates, and help schools return to their original intention and mission of teaching and educating students.