The systematic non-governmental proposal for reform of university entrance exam, the first of its kind in the country, was unveiled on July 18 by the 21st Century Education Development Research Institute, a non-governmental and non-profitable organization in China.

"The Ministry of Education appreciates the efforts made by the research institute for university entrance exam reform, and will take into consideration this proposal, and opinions from various walks of life," the paper quoted a ministry spokesman as saying.

"But the reform needs a gradual process and is unable to succeed overnight," the spokesman said, adding "one proposal is insufficient to solve all the problems."

Yang Dongping, director of 21st Century Education Development Research Institute, said on July 18 that "the national university entrance exam needs reform and we hope the government can consider our proposal and welcome more people from various circles to voice their opinions."

"This year marks the 30th anniversary of the resumption of national university entrance exam, we need some tangible efforts to commemorate the occasion instead of only taking a retrospective view," he said.

According to the 10-article proposal, a multi-evaluation system for students' overall capability should be established, based on the national university entrance exam, students' scores at senior high schools and extra-curriculum performance."

Besides the national university entrance exam, the proposal said, universities should hold their own exams and interviews before applicants are enrolled.

The proposal stressed that the students should have greater rights to choose universities because they pay for their university education and find jobs all by their own upon graduation.

The national university entrance exam is important because it is the only chance for most high school graduates to have access to higher education.

Chinese universities stopped enrolling students during the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976, and resumed the exam in 1977. Since then, 36 million people have matriculated. However, the exam has been branded "unscientific" as it relies solely on written testing with no evaluation of overall capability. Critics say it has led to China's test-oriented education system and should be abolished.