The exam was organized after the Shenyang Education Bureau decided that monitoring the quality of local education would in future not only cover students but also the teachers. How the teachers do in the examination will be an important criterion in the teaching evaluation system.

Those who support this practice believe that it is a serious wake-up call to teachers, who, they say, should show their enthusiasm for learning and set a good example for the students. More importantly, supporters say the regular examinations will encourage teachers to keep learning and improving themselves.

However, opponents largely outnumber supporters for this policy. In their opinion, although teaching and learning is an intertwined process, they remain fundamentally independent. The major job of a teacher is to effectively transfer knowledge and skills to students in an interesting, considerate way and not to answer exam questions, they say. Someone good at teaching will not necessarily do well in examinations, while teachers who are good at answering exam papers may not necessarily be good at teaching. Moreover, as teachers are older than their students, they have a disadvantage in terms of memory and response time, in comparison to younger minds.

Besides, it's improper for the education bureau to impose the new examination system on teachers and it's unacceptable to connect the exam result with teaching evaluation and even teachers' salaries, argue those opposed.

Up to the test

Yang Tao (Dahe Daily): Teachers are teachers because they have certain capabilities, such as high academic credentials and good general knowledge, but this does not mean teachers are more academically capable than their students. While teachers have received more education than their pupils, they studied years ago and what they know is possibly out of date. In this case, and they do not keep up with current study trends, but merely repeat what the textbooks say year after year, there are doubts as to whether they can produce a crop of excellent students and even if they are still qualified to be teachers. It's a pity that under the present education system, stale teachers can retain their jobs in front of the blackboard for as long as they wish.

If a teacher is really academically capable, he/she should prove it. It's unnecessary for them to compare with other teachers but they can compare themselves with their students by taking part in examinations together and measure their abilities.

Xu Linlin (www.chinacourt.org): In order to have a good record in the national college entrance examination and promote the school's or their own name, most teachers dump a lot of extracurricular work on students, but do little to improve their own teaching techniques and make learning easier for students. A whole host of tests are deemed as the norm to measure the quality of education. Mid-term exams and final exams, plus monthly and sometimes weekly tests, leave students confused and tired.

In my opinion, to have teachers take exams together with their students is helpful for the following reasons: First, teachers can get a practical understanding of how students feel to have endless tests and examinations, and this could help develop a more quality-oriented approach; second, if teachers find the questions difficult they might realize how these problems are confusing to students and in turn make the questions more acceptable; third, by going through the tests, teachers may find the points where students tend to make repeated mistakes and therefore emphasize these points in future lessons. These improvements can only be of big benefit to the education system.

Tong Kezhen (People's Court Daily): An old Chinese saying says that an accomplished disciple owes their accomplishments to their teachers. If teachers are not qualified, it's impossible to develop top students. An unqualified teacher will waste students' valuable time. Therefore, teachers play a very important role in pushing forward the whole quality of education and need to stay updated. Apart from providing teachers with opportunities to receive more academic training, it's important to check their actual teaching capabilities and knowledge and then eliminate the unqualified teachers. In this way, teachers will be coaxed to improve their own skills and develop a stronger sense of responsibility.

To have teachers take exams together with students will inevitably bring teachers and students closer to each other. When students and teachers get closer, students will become more active in school life and the whole education atmosphere will be made more conducive to study.

Mu Xue (www.enorth.com.cn): To have teachers take exams with students will narrow the distance between students and teachers. First of all, teachers will experience the nervousness of their students and help them to connect. Besides, the examination experience will help teachers get a better understanding of the pitfalls in the questions and narrow the gap between themselves and their charges. Ultimately that will translate into a friendly teaching environment, producing better results.

Placing teachers under stress

Xian Zi (Qilu Evening News): What is the objective of having teachers take examinations together with students? When we are still under the examination-oriented education system, teachers' job is to help students achieve high scores in the exams. Students' good performance in exams is the direct way to show teachers' capabilities.