A new survey shows that some 40 percent of the National College Entrance Examinations (NCEE) winners chose to study or live overseas, while most of the others pursued graduate studies instead of seeking jobs after college.

Many of them settled down in foreign countries after they finished studies there, said the survey, conducted among more than 350 people from across China who obtained top NCEE scores between 1977 and 1998, and released last week by a research team from Chinese University Alumni* Web site.

Dubbed as “zhuangyuan,” which literally* refers to the top contestants in the imperial examinations in ancient China, these students were once lauded* by the media as national heroes and as examples to their younger peers*.

However, being “top in exams” did not equal “top in career,” as the survey found none of the top exam winners later became China’s top experts or academics*.

Cai Yanhou, leader of the survey team, says the career prospects of such top students were not as high as society expected, even though most of them studied coveted* majors at the best universities.

The survey also shows that the students tended to choose careers not closely related to their majors in college.

Feng Yongjun, expert from the research team, explained that these students followed social trends when choosing jobs rather than setting their own goals. This resulted in many students ending up changing their focus of study which is a waste of energy and educational resources.

Wang Xuming, spokesman of China’s Education Ministry, said the scores from the college entrance exams can’t reflect a student’s overall performance. He criticized using the number of top scorers produced as a yardstick* to evaluate a high school.

“The entrance exam is just one of the numerous exams a person will go through in his life and can’t foretell his future achievements in other aspects,” said Wang, adding that some of the top students continue to outperform others in higher studies and at work, while others are just so so. He called for a fair judgment of students, not just based on scores.

Wang hoped that future reforms would discard* the score-oriented method so that students can be judged on various aspects and develop in a more comprehensive way.

Education experts also criticized society’s craze towards top score winners. The media flood their pages with their “success” stories to gain a wider readership, high schools proudly promote these ex-pupils to attract more new students and universities want to show their superior status by recruiting these laureates*, they said.

But Wang Jisheng, a psychologist from China Academy of Sciences, says the overall quality of top scorers has been improving since 1999. In interviews with more than 400 top students, Wang came to the conclusion that although these students may not be the most talented, they knew how to study. They are not mere bookworms but also sociable and versatile* people.

(SD-Agencies)