Abolishing High School Entrance Exams

[trubadour]

I read this: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2012/04/18/2003530639
Seems like a big deal.

Is it Taipei only?
How would High School admissions proceed without the exams?

[GuyInTaiwan]

trubadour: No, it's elsewhere also. Most of my ninth grade students (here in Taidong County) were not here this morning as they were off at the senior high schools they will be attending next semester. Five remained. I think two will be going to some kind of skills school, and the other three said they will be doing exams to get into their senior high schools. I think it's still necessary to do exams for the best schools, but there might be some affirmative action involved. I'm not sure.

[trubadour]

thanks for the info.
Its business as usual here in Taichung, too. Most of mine were off taking assesments/entrance/level tests for highschools. It's a stressful time for them. I'm not sure how things would work without the entrance exams. They could just use results from other tests, I suppose (plenty to choose from, JHS kids spend all their final year taking tests). The UK used to have the 11+. Is this the Taiwanese equivalent? The UK gov. abolished grammar schools when they abolished the 11+. I wonder if theat is what is happening here, although I understand that officially there is no streaming here.
It's hard to imagine students voting to keep the tests - still I guess they see it as a meritocratic institution. Perhaps it helps smarter kids get into better schools with scholarships? I know people who demise the existence of the grammar school and the 11+.