Maotanchang Middle School, located in Maotanchang Town, jin an district, Lu ‘an City, is known as "the largest college entrance examination factory in Asia" because tens of thousands of students take the college entrance examination every year, and even attracts foreign attention. Some people say that this is a paradise for repeat students, which allows many people to be admitted to undergraduate courses and fulfill their college dreams; Some people say that this is a prison, and its militarized management has destroyed many people’s youth. After all, it is inevitable to fall into emotional judgment, and it is impossible to outline the true appearance of this school.

　　The reporter of Jinling Evening News interviewed a "witness" who re-read in Maotanchang Middle School in 2006. Trying to restore a more real Maotan factory middle school from his self-report. In the eyes of this "witness", it is neither heaven nor hell, but a large-scale and efficient high school under the current education system. Respect for the wishes of the interviewee, his name is hidden in this article, and the reporter recorded the following content from his perspective. After several years, the "witness" said that some details may be slightly different from the present, so I hereby explain.

　　□ Jinling Evening News reporter Pan Dong

　　My story

　　Repeat for one year, from junior college to "211" university.

　　In 2006, I graduated from a third-rate high school in a town in Lu ‘an City. The teaching in this school was extremely average, and I didn’t work hard enough myself. Of course, my score in the college entrance examination was a mess. I remember that the total score was more than 450 points, while the admission line for this year was 493 points. That is to say, I can only go to a junior college, and I may not be able to fill in a good major. At that time, there were two roads in front of me. One was to stop studying, get a job in the society, and then get married and have children. The other was to repeat studies and go to Maotan Factory Middle School, which has a good reputation.

　　Although I was hesitant, my father insisted on sending me, and finally went to Maotan Factory Middle School in July of that year. One year’s hard work, the content is far more than the past three years, of course, the results are gradually improving. According to my own judgment, it is no problem to be admitted to this second school, and at most it is a university that is behind this one.

　　In June 2007, I took the college entrance examination for the second time, and the result was very ideal, even exceeding expectations — — The total score is 582 points, which is more than 30 points more than that of the previous year. There is no problem in getting into a better university. I applied to many universities in Jiangsu, including a "985" university and a "211" university in Nanjing, and was finally admitted to this "211" university.

　　"College Entrance Examination Factory" in My Eyes

　　A small town in the mountains around the school

　　When it comes to Maotanchang Middle School, we have to mention Maotanchang Town where it is located. It is reported that the school is the heart of the town, which is not an exaggeration. Soon after I entered the school, I found that this small town in the mountain is running around the school, in all aspects.

　　Because of the large number of students, school dormitories are far from enough, students, especially repeat students, choose to rent houses outside the school, which has become the biggest means for small town residents to make a living. Originally, they have been farming for generations, or they have gone to work in cities with the tide of work. Although the income is brought by the students, the local residents know that it is the credit of the school, so all aspects cooperate with the school’s work. The landlords of each family have close ties with the school, and sometimes students stay out at night, which can be reflected to the class teacher that night.

　　In addition to renting houses, small restaurants, shops, food markets, barbershops, stationery stores, etc. in the town all revolve around the school, so that in many detailed reports, there is such a scene. During class, the town is empty and there are not many pedestrians on the street, but at lunch or dinner, the town becomes buzzing almost instantly, and the school gate can be described as jostling with each other. The restaurant sells the prepared food to the door, and the students are choosing meals.

　　The most interesting thing is that there are also several Internet cafes in the town, but people who look like students are never allowed to go in. Perhaps this is also a "tacit understanding" between schools and businesses.

　　The gathering of repeat students with moderate grades

　　In 2007, more than 10,000 students from Maotanchang Middle School took part in the college entrance examination. Many people who don’t know the situation are wondering how this high school can recruit so many people. In fact, the main body of the school is not the freshmen, but the repeat students who come from all over the world.

　　I can’t prove it. In the end, from which year, the reputation of Maotan Factory Middle School’s good repetition effect began to spread in the local area. However, judging from the usual monthly exam and the final college entrance examination results, both the number and high scores of repeat students accounted for a large proportion.

　　According to my observation, the school has its own set of standards for repeat students. When I entered school that year, because the first year’s college entrance examination was more than 450 points, I only paid a symbolic fee of several hundred yuan (based on the second score line, five yuan less). If I didn’t meet the minimum score line required by the school, I needed to pay ten thousand yuan for the entrance fee, which was actually to set a threshold for students with low scores.

　　Therefore, the main body of repeat students is a group of students with medium grades. They either have poor foundation or one or two weak subjects. The main reason is poor study habits, and most of them have no self-control, but overall, their talents are not bad.

　　Efficient Training and Saved Mathematics

　　Perhaps readers are curious, how can this school improve the grades of repeat students so much in just one year? At that time, I didn’t know much about its teaching methods. I still remember the words of the head teacher in that year, "Our method is two horizontal and one vertical, dry!" Looking back now, I find that it is an efficient training under the simple truth.

　　In the students’ view, as soon as they entered the middle school, they began to review high school knowledge from the beginning, and a large number of test papers were synchronized. At first, they were extremely uncomfortable, but such training gradually showed results. Take my weakest math as an example. In 2006, I only got more than 80 points in the college entrance examination. I didn’t even pass the exam with a perfect score of 150 points, but I got 121 points in 2007, which has achieved my best level. Careful investigation, in fact, benefited from the full training of each chapter, although only more than 90 points or more than 100 points can be scored, but in the college entrance examination, which attaches importance to the foundation and has a comprehensive assessment, once the foundation of each chapter is integrated, you can get a good total score.

　　Behind the efficient training is the study of the college entrance examination questions. I found that no matter which subject teachers are very familiar with the college entrance examination questions, it should be the result of the joint study of the teaching and research group. It is worth mentioning that although the school has more training than other schools, students are never advised to do difficult problems except for particularly excellent students. Instead, they are trained repeatedly around the basic knowledge of the college entrance examination. A teacher once said, "The college entrance examination is a basic examination, and the topic should be done by most people, so it should be targeted."

　　Militarized management with only half a day off every week

　　Matching with efficient training is militarized management, which is mainly reflected in time management and discipline management. In 2007, when I was at school, I usually began to study by myself at 6:00 in the morning, and had a normal rest during recess, noon and evening. However, most students and children chose to study, some even asked others to buy meals for them, and studied at night until 10:50. Some students had to study a little longer until the classroom was turned off, and after returning to the rented room off campus, the more diligent students had to study for a while.

　　Not only the daily time is strictly managed, but also the weekly and monthly time. When I was at school, I only had a rest on Sunday afternoon for half a day. Most students used it for laundry, shopping and sleeping. At first, I took a monthly exam, and later, I took a weekly exam every Saturday. As for holidays, the school also took a day or two off at most. In short, we should squeeze out as much time as possible to study.

　　Discipline management is also very strict. It is common for the class teacher to find out about the decline in weekly and monthly exam results. If the behavior is not good for a period of time, it will inevitably be found to talk. If it is more serious, parents will be called and students will be expelled under special circumstances. Like many other high schools, the head teacher often looks inside the classroom during self-study. The most memorable thing is that there is a monitor on the roof above the podium of each classroom, which the head teacher occasionally uses. Love can’t be absolutely absent, but it’s really difficult in practice. I stay at school most of the time and have no time and space.

　　Teachers with high pay and return.

　　When it comes to Maotan Factory Middle School, I have to mention the teachers of the school. To be honest, compared with the teachers in the city, they are not particularly excellent. As far as I know, the way for schools to recruit teachers is usually a written test plus an interview. The written test is the college entrance examination paper of that year, and the interview is to have a class in the classroom. The final selection is all adapted to the school teaching model, which also explains why many former students return to school to teach after graduating from college. My head teacher was that year.

　　But the efforts of this group of teachers are absolutely incomparable to those of many teachers in the city. Students usually get up at 5:30 and read early at 6: 00, so the teacher must get to the classroom earlier and get up earlier. Students study by themselves at night until 10:50, and the teacher must wait for all the students to leave, which means going to bed later. In addition, students’ high-intensity test paper training also brings more correction work and explanation tasks to teachers.

　　High pay also has high return. As far as I know, the salary of school teachers is much higher than that of teachers in similar schools. As early as 2007, the income of ordinary teachers was six or seven thousand yuan, and the head teacher may be higher. After the college entrance examination, the school will also give bonuses to teachers according to the results of the class college entrance examination. For example, there are clear regulations on how much a book costs and how much a book costs.

　　In addition, the welfare is also quite good. In the mountains deep in the school, teachers are provided with housing, clothes will be distributed every year, free meals will be eaten in the school cafeteria, and teachers will be organized to travel abroad after the college entrance examination. I heard privately in 2007 that teachers have found it boring to go to Xinmatai and want to go to Europe.

　　Difficulties and superstitions of accompanying parents

　　Finally, I have to talk about a unique phenomenon in this school — — Accompany reading. Like Mao Zhong, it is suitable for repeating classes. Somehow, parents feel that accompanying students is beneficial for their children to achieve better grades. Objectively speaking, children can really save more time to study when parents accompany them to do laundry and cook for them, but parents accompanying them also bring invisible pressure to their children.

　　On the other hand, it is still very difficult for most parents to accompany them. Most of them come from the surrounding towns and villages. Originally, the husband and wife worked together to earn money. In order to accompany their children, the financial burden of the whole family fell on one person. It is not cheap to rent a small house in Maotan Factory. It used to be hundreds of yuan to more than a thousand yuan a month, but now it is rising even higher, and there are rising prices every year. The accompanying party has to arrange the children’s lives with limited money and bear great psychological pressure. Of course, with the expansion of the school’s reputation, more and more urban children come to repeat their studies, and parents come to accompany them, followed by the square dance and mahjong room.

　　In external reports, it is often mentioned that the so-called sacred tree in the school is "worshipped" by accompanying parents. This kind of superstition does exist. This tree is near the right wall in the school. Two years ago, I saw with my own eyes that there was a pile of ash more than one meter high on the wall outside the school, all of which were accumulated by superstitious parents burning incense. Behind it, it was just a psychological comfort.

　　The Future of "College Entrance Examination Factory"

　　Extend downward and run a branch school … … Copy the mode of running a school

　　In recent years, every time the media reports on Maotan Factory Middle School, they pay attention to its grand entrance examination, and sometimes look back on its college entrance examination resume, with little or no mention of where such a huge school will go.

　　I think that as long as the current examination system continues, this school, which can enable more students to realize their college dreams, will have the soil for existence. What has to be considered is that in recent years, the only-child generation has been attending high school, and the number of students is indeed decreasing. Moreover, because of the current situation of difficult employment, parents are no longer satisfied with the result of spending money and time to finally enter a second-year college.

　　The number of repeat students is shrinking, and the school has not only discovered it, but also begun to plan the future. As far as I know, in recent years, what Maotan Factory Middle School is doing is to copy its own school-running model. There are probably two ways. One is to extend to junior high schools and primary schools. For example, a private school from primary school to high school in another county was successfully acquired by it and sent management to settle in; The second is to run a branch school. Like the third-rate high school where I am located, the brand of Maotanchang Middle School Branch has been hung up, and the results of the college entrance examination have been getting better and better in recent years.

　　Some people applaud this kind of replication, thinking that it is to let more students enjoy high-quality educational resources, while others worry that it may lead to the homogenization of schools in the region. However, under the background of exam-taking, this is probably a false proposition, and no one can come up with a convincing conclusion.

　　In short, Mao Zhong was "demonized" by many people outside. It’s really hard to study there, but it’s not "abused" to the point of abnormal condition. Maozhong is just a place where the "routine" of the college entrance examination is thoroughly understood. Therefore, instead of saying "magic" in Mao, it is better to reflect on the college entrance examination system, which can be dismantled one by one by people and dealt with in a modular way.