Thirty years after they were reinstalled in 1977, the country's college entrance examination system is under unprecedented pressure for change.

There is a broadening consensus that such qualifying exams have led our basic education astray. Instead of cultivating healthy personalities, our schools are preoccupied with teaching students to crack all kinds of exams on their way to success.

While no agreement is in sight about how to reform the exams, even radical critics see their worth as a design of ensuring fairness.