ozzie, that 7.5 in IELTS on mainland is a sarcastic one, isn't it? few score over 6. however, this proficiency test has undergone some changes and because the mainland authorities are running the BC show in their unis the british "not for profit" organization is bending over. to the locals it's like their RIGHT to get the IELTS scores/bands they want. they "study hard" and then they pay 1,450 yuan, don't they? the fact is that a couple years ago, mainland was a country where IELTS takers received the lowest scores from all the countries worldwide. actions have been taken before and from 3 months waiting period after failures students were allowed to retake the exams every month..great business decision too. contecting it to the topic and from my experience, locals do not understand well what the purpose of education really is and/or what the examinations are to be for and that might actually be the problem here.

still i believe many elders aren't to be blamed for it as much as some would like to. some of those peoples people have gone through so much. if you were a 70-80 year old chinese you'd remember mao taking all your hard earned assets away from you. if you were just a local 60 years old ailing retiree you'd see there's not so much to be offered out of the fine GDP growth and i've got to second the posters that've mentioned the current chinese wealth being hidden somewhere. it sucks that the chinese leaders seemingly want to compete with the developed countries rather than give it up to their own elders that need it so much. but it sucks local leaders close their eyes on the ones that've cheated their way into wealth and that've abused the system so much. how right can those older abusers be. it's not a secret that these leaders and the wealthy locals think it's good for the country to have about a 15-20 percent of peoples people run the system either from their government or business offices. it's also not a secret that these 15-20 percent rich locals have been carefully chosen. agreeably, the danger that the new generation will not respect such views and practices is there. then, it's really scarry to see some rich locals setting up their roots or getting into businesses abroad. just imagine these peoples values and what they stand for.

recently, i experienced a 25 years old manager, a local, whose values and business practices horrified me. i resigned although she wanted to make me feel sorry through out my last month with her. how could it be that she did not respect an older one (me)? i guess we're different older people than peoples people.

well, i am not interfering in the local affairs but i am living with them. then, i am worried the local affairs will spread and arrive into my own hometown where my previous generations worked hard and in a much more honest manner than peoples peoples wealthy ones.

cheers and beers to our effort in local educational system