Chongqing Outlook｜Calm thinking on the "examination fever"
2024-08-12
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Everything is inferior, only the establishment is high. Influenced by the traditional idea that those who excel in education will become officials, as well as the reality of seeking stability by "getting ashore", the "exam fever" has continued to heat up in recent years. For the national examination alone, the number of applicants has increased from 2.02 million in 2022 to over 3 million in 2024, not counting the provincial examinations, selected students, and the "Three Support and One Assistance" in various places.
But on the other side of the "exam fever", the "iron rice bowl" that was considered stable may not be so "iron" - Shandong recently issued a document to promote the transformation of provincial public institutions into enterprises for the third time in ten years; Henan also clearly stated that, in principle, it will no longer retain provincial-level department-level public institutions; and many small counties with large populations are also reducing the number of staff.
When the enthusiasm for taking the civil service exam encounters the "transformation" of public institutions, and when the "lying flat" loses the protection of the establishment, it is worth calmly thinking about what to choose in the future.
▲Shandong is promoting the transformation of provincial public institutions into enterprises. / Screenshot from Chongqing Outlook
How popular is the civil service exam now? In the words of young people, it has reached the point where "there are three unfilial acts, and not having a civil service exam is the worst." For example, some people have shown more perseverance than going to the "Eighth Morning Entrance Exam" and get up early every day to reserve a seat in the library to prepare for the exam; some people have become civil service exam masters and shuttle back and forth between various examination halls; some people spend tens of thousands of yuan to receive closed training from training institutions.
If we visualize this enthusiasm, the data is the best reflection - the average competition ratio for the 2024 national civil service exam is 77:1, which means that there are an average of 77 people competing for one position; and for the most competitive positions, the competition ratio is as high as 3572:1.
In addition to the fierce competition, events such as Peking University PhDs taking the urban management exam and Stanford PhDs working as civil servants in townships have also been reported in the media, which has invisibly stimulated the herd mentality of more onlookers, intensified the intensity of this "exam preparation arms race" and made it an increasingly tight closed loop.
To be fair, after more than 1,000 years of the imperial examination system, the idea that those who excel in their studies will become officials has been internalized as a traditional idea in Chinese society.Proverbs such as "It's easy to be an official if you have connections in the court" and "If one person succeeds, the whole family will benefit" reflect the yearning of many Chinese people for the system and the strong "official-centered" thinking.
Especially now, as "996" has become more and more the standard in the workplace, and as the 35-year-old threshold is ruthlessly placed in the workplace, young people's desire to "get ashore" has naturally become stronger. Therefore, the establishment positions with high stability, high social status, and high cost-effectiveness have naturally become the "dream positions" in the hearts of young people.
Therefore, in the face of the "job hunting fever", we cannot simply blame the young generation for their choices. The reason behind young people's enthusiasm for "taking civil service exams" is the result of multiple complex factors.
▲Civil service examination site. Photo by Huang Qiao/Visual Chongqing
On the one hand, under employment pressure, young people are eager to join the government and seek stability; on the other hand, the reform of the government system is accelerating due to multiple factors such as people's expectations, local realities and national needs.
From the perspective of people's expectationsSome public training institutions, general review and certification, assessment and appraisal, consulting services, printing agencies and other public institutions generally have problems such as backward services, low efficiency and weak supervision. They urgently need to be abolished or transformed into enterprises in order to stimulate vitality in the market and meet people's expectations for public welfare services.
In this regard, the "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Comprehensively Deepening Reforms and Promoting Chinese-style Modernization" (hereinafter referred to as the "Decision"), which was reviewed and adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party, also clearly pointed out that "the structural layout of public institutions should be optimized and their public welfare nature should be strengthened."
From the perspective of local reality, the population of some counties has decreased, but the number of staff in government agencies and public institutions has not been reduced, resulting in an imbalance in the proportion of financially supported personnel. In July this year, many county leaders in Pu County, Shanxi Province began to serve as the top leaders of government departments, and the original "top leaders" were removed from their positions. Behind the reduction in the number of leadership positions is the background that small counties with small populations in Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Anhui, Hunan, Gansu, Jiangxi, Fujian, Sichuan and other places are constantly streamlining their staff.
For example, Loufan County in Shanxi Province, which has a permanent population of only more than 80,000, integrated and merged 33 units in one go in 2022, reducing the staff by 341. As a result, Loufan County saved more than 34.1 million yuan in personnel expenses and about 9.9 million yuan in operating expenses, alleviating some of the financial pressure to a certain extent.
From the perspective of national needsThe purpose of the establishment reform is to optimize the organizational structure and improve work efficiency and service quality. Whether it is the classified promotion of public institution reform in 2011, the reform of the Party and state institutions in 2018, or the establishment reform mentioned in the "Decision" of the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee this year, they all aim to achieve the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity through institutional reform and optimization of the structure of public institutions.
The tide of reform is surging, and the tide of the times is unstoppable. When the beautiful desire of "going ashore" and the comfortable desire of "lying flat" unexpectedly collide with reform, the pain of the times of the iron rice bowl will inevitably arise and will not dissipate for a long time.
▲ At the "Unable to Get Things Done Report Window" in Shizhu County, staff patiently received the public. Photo by Yu Huan/Visual Chongqing
In 1992, Tian Yuan, former director of the Department of Foreign Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Materials, started his own business. At the end of that year, he established China International Futures Co., Ltd., pioneering the futures industry in China. On January 9, 2023, the civil service examination training company Fanbi was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, becoming the second civil service examination training listed company.
Each era has its own historical orientation, which affects whether young people stay or go.In the mid-to-late 1980s, a large number of cadres went into business, forming a spectacular "national business tide". In the early 1990s, encouraged by the "Southern Talks" and measures such as unpaid leave and buyouts, a second wave of "cadres going into business" was formed, and the whole society ushered in the spring of economic development and social innovation.
In the face of the increasingly competitive economic and social environment, for individuals, entering the civil service is indeed a good track. However, when the road to becoming an official becomes narrower and narrower, smilingly taking a step back, turning a corner, and adjusting one's career plan in time is not only responsible for oneself, but also can reap different wonderful things in different tracks.
For example, a college teacher resigned to sell hot-dried noodles at Cambridge University, three masters of aesthetics made an appointment to do research in the village, and recent graduates became sports bloggers... These choices may not seem as glamorous and "superior" as becoming an official, but their youth is based on smiles and struggles, and their quality is no less than others.
Standing at the historical juncture of comprehensively deepening reform and realizing Chinese-style modernization, young people can embrace the establishment and serve the people wholeheartedly within the system. They can also look at the world at an age of pursuing romance and dreams, run and roll freely in the vast world, and shine their own brilliance in the turbulent ocean.
With the intertwined background of the "exam fever" and the "transformation" of public institutions, young people have also ushered in more diverse development paths. Not only can they become officials after learning well, but they can also go into business, teaching, agriculture, or research after learning well. The tracks may be different, but each one is exciting enough.No matter what choice you make, the most important thing is not to follow the crowd blindly, but to do what you can, because only with the career that suits you best can you live out your own youth and walk your own path in life.
