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People’s Daily: China Accuses SAT of Brainwashing Chinese Youth

People’s Daily recently reported that the popular U.S. SAT exam is planning reforms for 2016. The SAT announced that the upcoming new exams will include materials from the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the United States Constitution. Chinese media have accused the exam of having the potential to brainwash the Chinese students who plan to study higher education in the United States. They worry that the kids will be faced directly with the American definition of such concepts as human rights. Some well-known Chinese social leaders have expressed the concern that the United States will “forcefully plant” the seeds of U.S. values in Chinese students taking the SAT exams. However some experts suggested that the U.S. schools use the SAT exams primary for U.S. students. It is understandable that they try to ensure a certain level of awareness of their own values. According to Xinhua, currently there are around 50,000 Chinese students taking the SAT exam every year.

[Editor’s note: According to the College Board, the current policy of China’s Ministry of Education prohibits the administration of foreign admission tests (such as the SAT and ACT) to mainland Chinese national students within mainland China. Chinese national students interested in taking the SAT are welcome to take it in SAT testing centers in Hong Kong, Macao or any other country such as Taiwan or Korea, among others. A Hong Kong testing center reported that, of 50,000 who took the test last year, 90 percent were from the mainland.]

Sources: People’s Daily, August 29, 2014
http://world.people.com.cn/n/2014/0829/c1002-25563054.html