Shanghai students sweat it out to sit gaokao amid outbreak, soaring mercury

Enduring scorching summer heat and the lingering impact of the recent COVID-19 outbreak in the city, over 50,000 high school seniors in Shanghai on Thursday are sitting the national college entrance exam, known as the gaokao, which had been postponed by a month.

The exam this year, which will last until Saturday, will not only assess students' college-level abilities and knowledge in subjects like math and English, but also challenge them in terms of high temperatures and strict COVID-19 prevention and control measures.

According to the Shanghai Education Commission, each student has undergone two nucleic acid tests within three days before the exam to guarantee a safe test environment. Those under centralized quarantine or with abnormal nucleic acid test results are taking the exams at designated test sites.

The city has prepared air conditioners or buckets of ice placed in test rooms to keep students cool during exams. Temperatures in Shanghai reached as high as 36 C on Thursday.

Ren Xiaolian, a teacher from Shanghai No 1 High School, arrived at a local exam site early on Thursday morning to encourage her students attending the all-important tests that will determine where they go for higher education.

"I'm a bit concerned about their performance as most students had studied at home during the lockdown amid the latest COVID-19 wave and have been exhausted by prolonged test preparation due to the delay of the exam," Ren said.

Shanghai reported 54 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, 22 of which were asymptomatic. One place where the cases live and had visited has been designated a high-risk area and 49 other locations linked to these cases have been classified as medium-risk areas.

According to Ren, around five of her students had to be transferred in closed-loop management to designated exam sites on Wednesday night, as the neighborhoods they live in were locked down.

"Despite the tough situation, I hope the students can keep any distractions out of the way and perform well in the exams," she added.

Motivation has also come from students' parents and friends who have kept the candidates company before entering exam sites.

"What parents can do is to support children and help them manage any pre-exam nerves and avoid burdening them with stress. My wife and I ensured that our son concentrated on studying and had nice meals and rest," said Zhu Ying, a father whose son is sitting the exams.

"We wish him all the best in exams," he said.

At Shanghai Fuxing Senior High School in Hongkou district, Wu Qiya's parents and brother wore red clothes and held a hand fan with writing on it wishing him good luck. The color red symbolizes good luck and happiness in Chinese culture.

At the No 2 High School of East China Normal University in Pudong New Area, senior students who were admitted in January into prestigious domestic universities including Peking University, Fudan University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, waited outside the exam site to share their good-luck wishes with their classmates.

"I tried my best to help classmates with their studies, while spending time developing my hobbies and professional skills after passing the earlier university admission exams," said Wei Qiyi from the Foreign Language School Affiliated to Shanghai International Studies University in Pudong New Area. Wei will pursue a bachelor's degree in English language at Peking University in September.

Gao Erqiang contributed to this story.