(LI SHIGONG)

It was recently reported that Ningbo Polytechnic, a vocational college in east China's Zhejiang Province, released an independent recruitment policy stating that any applicant who has a credit of five diamonds or above by owning an online store at Taobao.com, will get up to 50 extra points added onto the original score of his or her gaokao, or college entrance examination.

By doing so, the school hopes to attract more innovative and hard-working young students to add value to its e-business program in particular. The school said that extra marks mainly target students from vocational middle schools, who aim to work immediately after graduation. The score-adding practice is one of the school's many attempts to adjust and improve its current education mode.

The move has drawn much public attention. Some doubt, while most applaud this creative attempt in reforming the traditional way of evaluating students. The following are excerpts of some opinions:

Pros

Xi Xuchu (Ningbo Evening News): It's not new for students with special skills to get extra marks added to their college entrance exams, though rewarding Taobao performance is new. Ningbo Polytechnic says it aims to bring up innovative talented students who are interested in starting their own businesses. For these students, innovative capabilities are more important than theoretical knowledge. Thanks to this policy, some students who may not be so good at academic work will have the opportunity to go to a higher school where they'll be provided with a broader space for their business dreams.

Actually, a lot of prestigious universities around the world value students' comprehensive abilities more than their academic performance. For this reason, many students go to work in factories, shops, libraries and social communities that might help them with their application.

Ningbo Polytechnic's practice is unlikely to be copied extensively by other schools. However, it has taken a new step, no longer restricted by only one measurement of examination scoring.

Lei Zhenyue (Beijing Youth Daily): China's medium and long-term education reform and development planning proposes a strategic change in the current system, demanding that examinations be diversified, taking into consideration students' personal interests and comprehensive abilities to encourage the development of innovation and social communication.

With college entrance examination scores being the only criteria to determine whether a student can go to college or not nowadays, personal interest is in many cases curbed in daily life. For example, some students are very good at a certain subject, but they are blocked out of college because of relatively poor performance in entrance exams. As a result, these students get lost in the current education system, unable to further develop their interest and special abilities.

Therefore, Ningbo Polytechnic's practice is great and bolder measures are necessary. To encourage young students' innovative abilities and enthusiasm for exploration, it's important to offer them more opportunities to do things such as adding extra points to their examination scores.

This new attempt in the current student recruitment policy is sparking students' enthusiasm for innovation and even for starting their own businesses. This new policy means to tell people that success in social life will be respected by colleges. In this way, more students will start businesses online, with their personal abilities tapped and their interest fulfilled. This is also a way toward progress and success in life.