September 8, 2008
Thousands of people took an exam yesterday in Guangzhou hoping to be selected as for positions in the provincial goverment, today’s Information Times reported.
Most of the candidates are already government officials and saw the exam as a great opportunity for promotion. But, according to the newspaper, seventeen of the candidates were from “overseas” (). “Foreigners” competing for Chinese office seems highly unusual, even in Guangdong, a province which sees itself as the pioneer of “liberation of thought.” The newspaper didn’t give the identities of the “overseas” candidates.
Many officials found the English test too difficult, to the point that many gave up and left shortly after the exam started.
“It was very unexpected, I don’t think a lot of people can write anything,” said a woman who gave her last name as Pan. She was speaking about the composition section, which required the test-taker to write a toast in English. Another candidate, a man named Huang said, “Most government offices just have no use for English skills, nor do our daily jobs have anything to do with it. I think English is just a fad, and I hope it will be cut out from the exam.”
But these are the rules: anyone who fails the English test will not be considered for the jobs they were competing for. Among the 3,828 candidates who sat for the test, only 100 will be selected.
According to the newspaper, 56.2% of the government officials taking the test hold a master’s degree or higher. The vast majority of them have at least a college degree. It is hard to imagine so many educated people racking their brains trying to come up with the “English toast” that is so vital to their career.
- Information Times via Dayoo.com (Chinese): Young cadres are asked to write English toast in the promotion test