The debate about the appropriate weighting of English in important exams in China has resurfaced during this year's two sessions, with some national lawmakers and political advisers suggesting making it a less important subject while others maintain that it is an essential tool to understand and communicate in the fast-changing world.
Chen Weizhi, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and president of Shanghai New Epoch Education Group, a private K-12 school group, suggested canceling English courses for first and second grade primary school students and also reducing the course hours of English for secondary school students.
To reduce the competitiveness of exam-oriented English teaching and learning, English should become an elective subject for the national college entrance exam, or gaokao, he told news outlet ThePaper.cn.
For the high school entrance exam, or zhongkao, Chen suggested making the English test a graded exam, rather than offering specific scores.