高考40年 公平中見不公平

<轉載自2017年6月12日 明報 社評>

內地一年一度的高考周五結束，萬千學子寒窗苦讀後走過了千軍萬馬爭渡的獨木橋，擺在他們面前的是能進什麼大學，還是進入勞動力市場，雖然大學學位數量增加，以及社會漸趨多元，高考已經不是一試定終身，但高考這個制度以及考試的方式是否能夠做到更加公平，仍然是一個熱議的議題。

40年前，經歷萬馬齊瘖的文革，鄧小平復出後做的第一件事就是恢復高考，一則是百廢待興的國家亟待人才來建設，二來是急需改變不公平的人才選拔機制。整個社會為此歡呼，他們終於盼來一個只憑個人能力便可以公平競爭的機制，因為高考這個制度不再講究階級成分，也毋須通過政審，當時年青人奔走相告，積極備考，目的只有一個，就是通過教育改變命運。平情而論，高考是歷來最公平的制度。

40年來，高中畢業生可以考上大學的機會確實大幅提高，大學學位不斷增加，是因為國家投入教育的資源逐漸增多，這跟高考制度是否公平並無直接的關係。

北京廣東考生 取錄率相差遠

北京今年只有6萬考生，他們獲得一本（最高等級）大校錄取的機率是30%，全國第一，廣東今年考生人數76萬，但考上一本大學的機率只有11%。造成這個極為不公平的現象，跟大學發軔於北京的歷史因素有關，跟過去幾十年國家投放在大學教育的資源，嚴重傾斜於北京有關，同時跟廣東過去對大學教育的投入不足，以及高考這個制度也不無關係。

考生的學籍是嚴格按照戶口登記的戶籍，廣東學生不可能到大學資源豐富的北京或者上海、天津去考試，大學沒有訂定招生省籍比例的自主權，即使北大清華認為廣東考生的水平高於北京的，也必須嚴格遵守高考這個制度。還有一個跟戶籍有關的不公平做法是，國家要求允許外來打工人員子弟異地參加高考，即毋須回到原籍，但北京上海堅拒執行，反而是廣東執行了這個國家規定，去年考生增加了1萬，今年很可能會增加兩萬，增加了本地考生的壓力。

考試同時有淘汰和甄別兩個功能，在大學學位嚴重不足的年代，高考的功能就是要淘汰大量考生，40年前的高考，錄取率只有5%，而今學位增加，考試更大的功能在於甄別學生水平高低，作為大學挑選考生的標準。但高考不公平的一面，北京考試已經轉化為甄別功能，而在廣東仍然是淘汰功能。

考試作為淘汰功能，就要加大難度，一條簡簡單單的問題，要拐彎抹角去問。考試的難易程度，反過來會影響高中教育的做法。廣東的教育工作者當然知道素質教育的優點，他們當然也懂得培養學生獨立思考和分析能力的重要，但在高考必須要淘汰一大批學生的時候，他們只能選擇死記硬背和墨守成規這個取得高分的考試必殺技。

大學爭「雙一流」導致「重理輕文」

國家過去劃分「211大學」（即面向21世紀，重點建設約100所高等學校和重點學科）和「985大學」（為了建設世界一流大學和一批國際知名研究型大學而實施的教育計劃），並按此決定撥款額度，北京、天津和上海幾乎佔了這兩種頂級大學的一半，廣東雖然是全國經濟最發達省份，反而是這兩種大學最少的省份。而今國家取消了這種劃分的方法，改為鼓勵大學競爭「雙一流」（一流大學和一流學科），這個換湯不換藥的改革，實際的影響是使某些大學放棄一些影響大學排名的學科，比如廣東最負盛名的中山大學，最近決定取消社會工作等學科，因為這些學科的教師很難寫出可以在國際學刊發表的論文，畢業生的工資也會拖低整體水平，從而影響學校排名。這個關係國家教育資源投放的議題，可以另作評論，但這個政策對高考制度還是有一定影響的。

高考近年也推行了一些積極的改革，比如降低了英語佔分的比例，鼓勵考生文理兼備，考生多選擇應考兩文一理科目，或者兩理一文科目，對培養複合型人才十分有利，但在爭創雙一流的大方針之下，必然會導致大學重理輕文，將更多的資源放在理科學科，考生也會因此而更多選擇理科，這對知識型社會需要綜合能力人才的方向是背道而馳的。

高考雖然仍是最公平的制度，但本來就只能考核學生某一方能力的制度性弱點，不利於學生全面發展的制約，在地域差異以及國家重理輕文的政策影響之下，只會對考生製造人為的不公平。

隨着社會轉型，人口下降，國家投放資源增加，高考作為考生攔路虎的作用逐漸降低，但高考改革不能獨善其身，需要國家的戶籍改革、資源分配制度改革作為配合，很可惜，目前還沒有看到這些方面的積極措施，考生在未來幾年，還要接受高考的煎熬，無怪乎高考考生在考試結束後，集體做的第一件事是將課本和複習輔助教材從高處撒下，作為情緒發泄也好，作為對不公平制度的抗議也罷，這種怪現象還將持續一段時間。

Higher Education Examination — not quite a fair system

THIS YEAR'S National Higher Education Entrance Examination, which is held annually in mainland China, drew to an end last Friday. Students who in enormous numbers have painstakingly persevered in their studies — not unlike millions of troops and warhorses competing to cross a single-plank bridge — are now awaiting their fate: Which university will they be admitted to? Or will they simply be forced to join the working population? Thanks to the rise in university places and increased social diversity, the Higher Education Examination is no longer the sole determinant of a person's future life. But it remains a hotly-debated issue whether the system and the way the examination is conducted have really been made fairer.

Forty years ago, in the wake of the collective silence of the Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiaoping reinstated the Higher Education Examination, the first thing he did after returning to the political scene. The move was made at a time when the country, having been left in ruins by the revolution, was badly in need of talents for its reconstruction. The urgency to make changes to an unfair mechanism for choosing people into the government was also a factor. Society as a whole celebrated the news, as their hope for a mechanism which guaranteed fair competition between capable people had finally been realised. The Higher Education Examination did not take into account the class status of an individual, nor was it subject to political censorship. Back then, young people were busy relaying the news to each other, and they actively prepared themselves for the examination for only one aim — to change their fates through education. Objectively speaking, the Higher Education Examination is the fairest system that has ever existed in China.

This year in Beijing there are only 60,000 candidates, and they have a 30% chance — the highest across the nation — of getting enrolled by a top-tier university. Guangdong, by comparison, has 760,000 candidates, which translates to a 11% chance only. That extremely unfair phenomenon is attributable to the historical factor that Beijing was the cradle of Chinese universities as well as the fact that the country's resources for tertiary education have over the past decades been allocated in such a way that heavily favours Beijing. Guangdong's lack of input into tertiary education and the Higher Education Examination itself are other factors.

A candidate's enrolment status must be strictly based on his or her census registration according to government records of households. This means that a student from Guangdong cannot possibly sit an examination in the well-resourced Beijing, or Shanghai or Tianjin. Nor do universities have the power to decide the proportions of enrolments from different provinces. Even if Peking University or Tsinghua University believed that candidates in Guangdong were better than those in Beijing, they would still have to follow the system strictly. Another unfair feature related the census registration system is the central government's requirement that sons and daughters of workers from other regions of the country should be allowed to take the examination without returning to their places of origin. While the Beijing and Shanghai authorities adamantly refuse to follow the rule, the Guangdong government adheres to it. As a result, the number of candidates in the province grew by 10,000 last year. This year, it might have risen by 20,000, putting extra pressure on local candidates.

The transformations in society, the decreasing population and the growth of the government's input of resources have reduced the significance of the Higher Education Examination as a stumbling block to candidates' pursuit of their futures. However, the reform of the Higher Education Examination is not something that can be achieved in isolation — it is dependent on the reform of the census registration system and that of the system for allocating resources. Regrettably there have not been any meaningful measures for this purpose, meaning that candidates will still be subjected to the torture of the Higher Education Examination in the years to come. Such being the case, it is no wonder that the first thing candidates do together after the examination is to throw their textbooks and supplementary learning materials from a height. Do they do it to vent their feelings or to protest the unfair system? Whatever the case, such a strange phenomenon will continue to exist for a certain period of time.

高考40年 公平中見不公平

內地一年一度的高考周五結束，萬千學子寒窗苦讀後走過了千軍萬馬爭渡的獨木橋，擺在他們面前的是能進什麼大學，還是進入勞動力市場，雖然大學學位數量增加，以及社會漸趨多元，高考已經不是一試定終身，但高考這個制度以及考試的方式是否能夠做到更加公平，仍然是一個熱議的議題。

40年前，經歷萬馬齊瘖的文革，鄧小平復出後做的第一件事就是恢復高考，一則是百廢待興的國家亟待人才來建設，二來是急需改變不公平的人才選拔機制。整個社會為此歡呼，他們終於盼來一個只憑個人能力便可以公平競爭的機制，因為高考這個制度不再講究階級成分，也毋須通過政審，當時年青人奔走相告，積極備考，目的只有一個，就是通過教育改變命運。平情而論，高考是歷來最公平的制度。

北京今年只有6萬考生，他們獲得一本（最高等級）大校錄取的機率是30%，全國第一，廣東今年考生人數76萬，但考上一本大學的機率只有11%。造成這個極為不公平的現象，跟大學發軔於北京的歷史因素有關，跟過去幾十年國家投放在大學教育的資源，嚴重傾斜於北京有關，同時跟廣東過去對大學教育的投入不足，以及高考這個制度也不無關係。

考生的學籍是嚴格按照戶口登記的戶籍，廣東學生不可能到大學資源豐富的北京或者上海、天津去考試，大學沒有訂定招生省籍比例的自主權，即使北大清華認為廣東考生的水平高於北京的，也必須嚴格遵守高考這個制度。還有一個跟戶籍有關的不公平做法是，國家要求允許外來打工人員子弟異地參加高考，即毋須回到原籍，但北京上海堅拒執行，反而是廣東執行了這個國家規定，去年考生增加了1萬，今年很可能會增加兩萬，增加了本地考生的壓力。

隨着社會轉型，人口下降，國家投放資源增加，高考作為考生攔路虎的作用逐漸降低，但高考改革不能獨善其身，需要國家的戶籍改革、資源分配制度改革作為配合，很可惜，目前還沒有看到這些方面的積極措施，考生在未來幾年，還要接受高考的煎熬，無怪乎高考考生在考試結束後，集體做的第一件事是將課本和複習輔助教材從高處撒下，作為情緒發泄也好，作為對不公平制度的抗議也罷，這種怪現象還將持續一段時間。