Yu, a student from Shengsi Middle School in Zhejiang Province, feels fulfilled for the upcoming first semester of high school. After getting rid of the anxiety of the middle school entrance examination, the enthusiasm for learning has become stronger. Secondly, in addition to learning subject knowledge from regular high schools, I also gained exposure to vocational knowledge such as tourism management and e-commerce through elective courses. When I choose to switch to vocational education after my first year of high school, I will have a clearer understanding of my future development. "Yu is a member of the vocational integration ordinary class at the school, and his special experience stems from the high school entrance examination system reform launched in the county in 2025. At the end of 2024, the permanent population of Shengsi County was 64000, making it one of the counties (cities, districts) with the smallest total population in the country. There are only 332 graduates from the third year of junior high school in the whole county in 2025, and their enrollment targets are the only two high schools in the local area - Shengsi Middle School and Shengsi County Vocational Education Center. After thorough research and demonstration, Shengsi County has launched a reform plan: the admission score threshold for ordinary high schools will be completely abolished, and junior high school graduates who pass the academic level examination can be 100% admitted to high school for study. After the introduction of this plan, it was once misunderstood as "canceling the middle school entrance examination". Deputy Director He of the Education Bureau of the county clearly stated that the function of selecting students for the middle school entrance examination has been cancelled, and third year graduates who want to further their studies still need to participate in the provincial middle school entrance examination. The reporter learned from the Education Bureau of Shengsi County that in order to avoid the occurrence of students' "lying flat" or "lying winning" phenomenon, all junior high schools have added process performance evaluation items, requiring schools to pay attention to the entire process of students' growth and attach importance to the state and quality of learning. For students who aspire to attend vocational high schools, organize professional personnel to enter junior high schools to carry out vocational education lectures, smooth the channels for students to independently apply for vocational schools, and help students make rational choices for further education. Handing over the right to choose to children is the underlying logic of our reform. ”Deputy Director He introduced that in order to meet the needs of students at different levels, Shengsi Middle School has comprehensively implemented hierarchical teaching, opened science and technology innovation classes and ordinary classes, and adapted to the personalized learning needs of students. Actively explore dynamic adjustment mechanisms for course progress and difficulty to reduce students' burden. If students feel unable to keep up or adapt after entering the general high school, Shengsi County also provides a "second choice" opportunity. Shengsi Middle School has specially established a "vocational integration ordinary class" based on students' learning foundation and abilities, and carries out teaching with "general high school basic courses+vocational cognition modules". After the end of the first semester of high school, students can voluntarily choose to transfer to vocational high school according to their personal wishes. Principal Xu from Shengsi Middle School talked about the changes before and after the reform. He found that the anxiety of the students who entered the school last year was significantly reduced, and they did not show any obvious discomfort in their studies in the first year of high school. Faced with periodic fluctuations in performance, emotions are also relatively stable. In the view of Principal Wang from Shengsi County Vocational Education Center, students who choose to enroll in the school after the reform of the middle school entrance examination system are those who have firmly established their own positioning and career path. "This is very helpful for students to focus on learning skills well. Li Yunxing, Executive Director of the Zhejiang Basic Education Research Center at Zhejiang Normal University, believes that the exploration in Shengsi County provides students with diverse channel choices, which may be worth learning from for some areas with smaller populations. It is reported that there are 343 graduates from the third year of junior high school in Shengsi County this year, and the application and admission form from last year will still be used. At present, Shengsi County is considering establishing an integrated science and technology innovation education system for primary, middle, and high schools to enhance students' innovation literacy. Regular programs such as winter and summer vacation science and technology innovation literacy camps and weekend science academies are being carried out to lay a solid foundation for the differentiated development and lifelong learning ability of island students. (New Society)